Every nation and its constitution
Every nation is considered to have a constitution, and each one varies in certain respects. The method of creating a constitution varies from one country to the next, owing to the different traditions under which various governments function. The constitution of any given nation acts as a framework for the people of that country to obey in their everyday operations. It is a critical component in the government of any given nation. It is considered to be open to transition, making it more hospitable to people based on the present situation.
The Federalism Video
This paper seeks to have a review of the federalism video and come up with answers to certain questions. They include the reason and process for the creation of the constitution, main features of the government under the constitution, and the conflicts that emerged during the initial writing of the constitution as well as during the debate meant to ratify the first constitution.
The States and the Federal Government
It is evident that the video or rather the clip supposed to be used in these studies has its main agenda being federalism (Kiraly). It presupposes that it is the states that came up with the federal government rather than what most people think; the states are as a result of the federal government. This implies that even the federal laws that are in existence were at first discussed at the state levels. The United States Constitution is responsible for the national government and fundamental laws as well as basic rights which all citizens are guaranteed. The American constitution was first written in a secret convention held in Philadelphia during the summer. Twelve states, out of the then thirteen states, were represented, and immediately it was signed, they began to seek the ratification process (Bardes et al chapter 2). From the clip, it is evident that the constitution had several elements, and they include the separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism.
The Reason for the Formation of the Constitution
Having looked at the manner in which the constitution was written, it is important that we get to understand the reason behind its formation. Most of the delegates associated with the drafting of the new constitution were insecure and in doubt and fear of being perceived as traitors by the British (Bardes et al chapter 2). The fear came about as a result of the abandoning of the Articles of Confederation to come up with the new document to be used in governance, and that was the Constitution. They were not confident about the reaction they would receive from the states. It was deemed to be a better and more efficient method of governing the United States though getting to convince the states to accept the idea took a period of two years. After this time, they ratified the whole document and came up with a blueprint that was based on the elements mentioned earlier, and they are the separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism.
The Main Elements of the Government Under the Constitution
Just as it was stated earlier and as seen from the clip, the main elements of the government in the constitution that was first created are federalism, separation of powers, and the checks and balances. The provision for power separation was in the first article. There was created a bicameral legislation, and this came along with set qualifications which the members had to meet to hold the various positions in office (Bardes et al chapter 2). Article II, on the other hand, had it that the president had the power to execute laws and that his/her term would be four years. Also, the constitutional powers of the president have been stipulated clearly in this part of the constitution. Article III has the Supreme Court established and its jurisdiction well explained. Having considered the disadvantages tagged along with a tyrannical government, a system that provided each of the branches of the government a check over the other two was built (Spring 1). The two houses of the legislation would check on each other. The federalism bit as provided for in Article IV has the distinctions that separate the relation between the federal government and the states. Ideally, it divided the power between the national and states government and was meant to come up with a corrective measure for the chaos witnessed during the Articles of Confederation.
Conflicts During the Transition
Arguably, the transition from the Articles of Confederation to the constitution was not an easy process. It is one that involved and brought along some conflicts both interstate and personal ones. This was mainly because fixing the sections of the Articles of Confederation included a series of lengthy debates that seemed to be endless (Spring 1). First, the main conflict was the interstate one, and this came along as a result of the numerous weaknesses noticed within the Articles of Confederation. There were two sides formed during the debate for the changes, and they were the Federalist and Antifederalists. Federalists were in favor of ratifying the constitution, whereas the antifederalists opposed this. The inclusion of the Bill of Rights was one issue that was seen to breed a lot of tension between the two groups. The conflict was backed as follows: The Federalists argued that the Bill of Rights was not necessary as the constitution only governed issues dealing with the government. Contrarily, antifederalists argued that the government had excess powers, and the exclusion of the Bill of Rights would imply oppression of the people.
The Process of Creating a Constitution
Summarily, the process that leads to the coming up of a constitution differs in every country. The above article has provided a detailed discussion of the first constitution of the United States. Also, the paper has shown the process followed in coming up with the Constitution as well as the conflicts involved in the process. Indeed, the American Constitution went through a long process before it could finally be implemented.
Works Cited
Bardes, Barbara A., Mack C. Shelley, and Steffen W. Schmidt. American Government and Politics Today: Essentials 2015-2016 Edition. Nelson Education, 2015.
Kernell, Samuel, et al. The logic of American politics. Cq Press, 2017.
Kiraly, M. (2013, September 18). Federalism [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48nPiSB8Bdg
Spring, Joel. American education. Routledge, 2015.
