Is the Constitution Living or Dead
An
ongoing debate has existed for many years over whether or not the
Constitution is a living or dead document. Some people think that the
Constitution is a living document, one that changes along with
society. Others think that the Constitution is a dead document, that
will never be changed no matter how much society does. Both sides
have some valid points.
Some
sections of the Constitution are living and intended to change as
necessary, such as the ratio of Congressmen to population. If we had
stayed at the same ratio as the Constitution originally stated, we
would have so many Congressmen that nothing would ever get done! It
was necessary to change that section in order to keep the government
running effectively the way it was supposed to.
Another
section of the Constitution that is living is how to fill offices
that have been emptied by death or resignation. The Constitution gave
rules for how to deal with a Presidential vacancy, Presidential and
Vice-Presidential vacancy, or a Congressional vacancy. A law was
passed by Congress describing how to deal with a Vice-Presidential
vacancy when the Vice-President takes over the duties of the
President for whatever reason. The law was necessary to ensure that
the country was not without a Vice-President if the President was
unable to fulfill his duties.
A
third section of the Constitution that is living dictates the time
and place of Congressional sessions. The timing was originally set
for the first Monday in December; however, Congress was given the
power to change it by law. Congress was given the choice of where to
hold their sessions.
However,
most sections of the Constitution are dead and cannot be changed,
unless the Constitution is either heavily amended or thrown out
completely. One of those sections is the first ten amendments, also
known as the Bill of Rights. Every single one of those amendments was
written in order to prevent the government from obtaining too much
power. They were designed and intended to preserve the rights of the
people and to prevent tyranny.
Another
section of the Constitution that is dead is how officials are
elected. If that were able to be changed, then the government would
be able to tyrannize and control elections for their own benefit. We
the people would no longer be the ones controlling the government;
the government would be controlling we the people.
A
third section of the Constitution that is dead is the powers of
government. The Constitution stated the powers that the government
was allowed to have and exercise and gave the remaining powers to the
states and the people. If the government were able to change what
powers they had, then they would have the choice of either giving the
states more power or taking more power themselves, and, of course,
the government officials would choose to take more power for
themselves.
Overall,
the Constitution is a dead document, with a few small portions that
are living. The Founding Fathers wrote it with the intent that, for
the good of the people, it would not be changed. However, they did
include a way for it to be changed if absolutely necessary, and also
wrote a few portions with permission for Congress to change those
specific sections.
