American Democracy: the Preamble of the Constitution
Ravi Purohit-PUB 1250 2/16/05 The paper in which I chose to write about is American Democracy. When the thirteen British colonies in North America declared their independence in 1776, they laid down that "governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." This meant that they wanted a government for the people, run by the people. This is one of the basic ideals upon which our nation was founded. The "colonies" needed to have a written constitution to define and therefore more specifically limit government powers. After the Articles of Confederation failed to work in the 13 colonies, the U.S. Constitution was created in 1787. One ideal found in the Preamble of the Constitution is the ideal that majority rules. In our government, the Congress uses majority rules to pass bills, through Congress and the President. As there are so many checks and balances, sometimes they don't even make it as bill. This is one of the ideals found in the Constitution. This separation of powers, within the three co-ordinate branches, the legislative, executive, and judiciary branch has no supremacy over the others. This was designed to prevent any branch, from infringing individual liberties safeguarded by the Constitution. Our constitutional rights are very important. Without these rights, the United States would not be any different from other places of the world that do not have as many rights. Our rights secure our liberties and ensure justice for all. I believe the Constitution was such a great document necessary for achieving American Democracy. This document was very concise in its expressed powers. In the words of James Madison, "If men were angels, no government would be necessary." This was from Federalist #51 and states the only way government wouldn't be needed is if we all were perfect angels and we wouldn't need rules. The Declaration of Independence means to me that all men and women join freely together to make