The US and the Missouri Constitutions Essay Example

Introduction

The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land in the United States and delineates the national architecture of the government. The constitution embodies the doctrine of separation of powers between the three arms; the legislature, the executive and the judiciary in the first three articles. The following three articles outline the concepts of federalism, as well as the rights and responsibilities of the state governments. The US constitution has been amended 27 times since its inception in 1789, in order to accommodate the changing needs and the dynamic American society. As far as the Senate of the United States is concerned, the first three words of the constitution "We the People" is an affirmation that the government exists to serve the people of the land. Missouri, on the other hand, was formulated to govern the state of Missouri, subject to the people and the federal government and was first incepted in 1820. It is important to note that although every state has its own constitution, they are bound by the rules and the regulations of the federal government. This study delves into highlighting the differences and similarities between the two sets of the constitution.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Similarities

One of the obvious similarities between the US constitution and the Missouri constitution is that both constitutions have three segments namely; the judiciary, the legislature, and the executive. In both constitutions, the roles and function of each body of government are articulated in depth (Wordpress.com, 2016). Although the depth of these roles of the bodies of the governments may differ, they are articulated accordingly. It is important to note that the US constitution is superior to any state's constitution but it does not imply that it can nullify any provisions of the Missouri constitution. With the US politics heavily embodied on democracy and human rights, it is not unfamiliar that both sets of constitutions emphasize the importance of human rights and how they should be observed. Both constitutions have Bill of Rights that ensures that the people's interests are prioritized in both state and national politics. It was in the first ten amendments when the Bill was added into the US constitution after ratification (Constitution State of Missouri, 2017). In the Missouri Constitution, the Bill of Rights is even put at the top of the constitution, after the preamble. Both of the constitutions provide guidelines on the respective governments should be run without any compromise of the law. In addition, both of the constitutions have an option to amend and cover the same ideas on bills, taxation, and power of different officers in their respective capacities (Wordpress.com, 2016). This is to ensure that there is uniformity in the execution of the laws of the land so that the fundamentals are not drained off. Finally, both the US and the Missouri constitutions start with the preamble, which provides a brief introduction to the contents of the constitution. It is also an opening statement that explains the reasons why framers of the constitution made the country a republic.

Differences

There are a number of differences that distinguish these constitutions from each other. Missouri State is the length, in that, the Missouri constitution is longer than the US constitution and by far (Wordpress.com, 2016). Ideally, the Missouri constitution has about 65,000 words, while that of the US has about 7,500 words. Further, while are provisions for adding into the constitution or make changes, the US constitution has only been amended for only 27 times. However, Missouri constitution has been amended for more than 200 times. These numbers show how hard it is to change the US constitution, as opposed to that of Missouri (Constitution State of Missouri, 2017). As far as the US constitution is concerned the Bill of Rights is contained at the half way of the document and is more detailed than that of Missouri. Its focus is on the working and the rights under the US federal government instead of an independent state. Further, the US government focuses on the national government forms, as well as the rights that people have and still uses the original version. As far as the Missouri constitution is concerned, the Bill of Rights is found exactly after the preamble, while article 2 is the explanation of the separation of powers (Constitution State of Missouri, 2017). With the numerous amounts of amendments that have been made to the Missouri constitution, it is correct to assert that the Missouri constitution uses the fourth version as opposed to the US constitution's initial version. Moreover, upon Missouri becoming a state, its constitutions are always drafted during conventions and can only be adopted by the vote of people.

Conclusion

A constitution is an important document in any jurisdiction as it contains the rules and regulations that govern it. The US and Missouri constitutions are very similar to each other in terms of the contents, functions and the likes. The US constitution is however very superior in that it supersedes that of any state so that interests of the people of the nation are unified. Apart from the arrangement of the contents of the Missouri Constitution and the other differences mentioned in this study, both constitutions are basically a form of each other.

References

Comparing the Constitution of the U.S. and Missouri. (2016). Retrieved from https://songxinxieblog.wordpress.com/2016/02/27/comparing-the-constitution-of-the-u-s-and-missouri/

Constitution State of Missouri. (2017). [Ebook]. Retrieved from https://www.sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/Publications/MissouriConstitution_02.16.2017.pdf