Design of the United States Constitution Essay

The United States of America constitution was designed over 200 years ago, and it has proved to stand the test of time from when it was written. The constitution was made to provide functions that include the creation of the national government having three arms, a division of power among the different levels of government, and the protection of the individual liberty of the citizens of the United States of America. The three arms of the federal government are the legislative, executive, and judicial.

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The constitution stipulates that the legislative arm of government is exercised in a bicameral Congress which is made up of the House of Representatives. The members of the Congress are elected by the citizens and hold office for two-year terms, and they have the function of representing the district. Moreover, the Congress is made up of the senators who hold office for six years and are also elected directly by the citizens of U.S. The constitution dictates that for a bill to pass into law, it has to be supported by both houses. The powers exercised by the Congress include taxing, borrowing money, control of foreign and interstate commerce, and the declaration of war.

The executive arm of the government is mandated heavily on to the president of the United States. In fact, the president is given the explicit power such that presidency is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. However, there are limits put in place. The congress is used to provide limits to the presidency, for instance, the Congress has the final say when it comes to the passage of laws. The constitution stipulates that the president is to be in office for a four-year term. The election is done by the Electoral College, whereby, every state has members in the college which are equal to the number of Senate and House. The person with the majority number of votes by the Electoral College is pronounced as the president of the United States of America. However, if there is no individual receiving the majority of the votes from the Electoral College, then, the president is determined by the House of Representatives. No individual can serve as the president for more than two terms. Additional powers granted to the president include granting reprieves, establishing treaties with the help of the Senate, the appointment of the federal judges and other officers of the public.

The final arm is the judiciary where it is divided to one Supreme Court and other lower level courts which are created by the Congress. The judiciary is considered as the final interpreter of the constitution. The judges of the federal government are appointed for a period of a lifetime. There exist limitations to the judiciary as stipulated in the constitution. Therefore, they are restricted to listen to cases assigned to them only. This is because the judicial system is subject to the will of the Congress. The federal courts are superior and enjoy powers given to them than the lower courts.

Points of Conflict

The points of conflict in the U.S constitution is seen to be arising from the matters of representation, the division of power among the various levels of the government, and advocacy of the individual rights as presented in the Bill of Rights stipulated in the constitution.

Division of powers may become a source of conflict because the government is divided into three arms which per se are independent of each other in regards to decision making. For instance, the executive arm of the government is tasked with the processes of criminal prosecution. However, the criminals have to be tried in the courts. The drafters of the constitution did so to achieve a constitutional system with checks and balances in a way such that no arm of the government proves to be superior to the other.

Government representation is divided from the federal and state with regards to the exercise of the respective powers. The federal government was designed and considered to be stronger than the state government and has more power than the one allocated to the state government. As stipulated in the constitution by the drafters, the federal law is more supreme over the state laws. As a result, they may not work in synergism, and this conflict is expected. The expected achievement by the drafters may include ensuring limit in powers of the states from the other to avoid any forms of interstate discrimination.

Protection of individual rights was engraved in the American constitution by the drafters and ensured it is difficult to alter to suit a particular purpose. The constitution protects against intrusion to personal liberty by the government. The protection of individual rights is found in the Bill of Rights where the conflict arises as it has to be applied against the federal government. The judicial arm of the government added the protection of liberty to be included in the states. The drafters of the constitution sought to achieve the protection of individuals from discrimination by the state government in regards to sex, race among other characteristics.