18th Century Constitution

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18th Century Constitution

According to Ashford and Ashbee (1999), the system of:

"checks and balances have created gridlock. Decisions cannot be made

because there is insufficient agreement between institutions. In

contrast with the countries of western Europe, the US has, [critics]

argue, been unable to impose effective gun control or establish

comprehensive health-care provision because decision making requires

such a widely shared consensus."

This gridlock is one of the reasons that some have come to call the US

Constitution an "18th Century Strait-Jacket". Of course there are

various sides to this argument that must be explored before a

conclusion is reached.

First, we must put this into its historical context. As a colony of

the British Empire, the Americans had several grievances particularly

with taxation with representation in the British Parliament, the

quartering of soldiers in people's homes without permission and

imprisonment without trial. As a result, many of these issues are

address in the Constitution, e.g. "No solder shall in time of peace be

quartered in any house without the consent of the Owner, nor in time

of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law". Three other main

influences on the Constitution were the Declaration of Independence

1776, the Articles of Confederation 1781 and the French philosopher de

Montesquieu's ideas on the 'Separation of Powers'. These contributed

to the creation of a Constitution that primarily considered protecting

the rights of the citizens and preventing either tyranny of one

(President) or tyranny of the masses (largest political party). The

arguments of critics, how...

... middle of paper ...

...e era of the

'imperial presidency'. Ashbee and Ashford continued to demonstrate

that "Congress - although sometimes vocal in its comments - played a

subordinate role".

Therefore, it can be said the Constitution is not as restricting as

critics would lead us to believe because power has gradually evolved

towards the President.

It is important also to compare the US Constitution to other

Constitution. The British Constitution most notably, is not codified

or entrenched. It is much easier to change this Constitution - through

an Act of Parliament, a court ruling or an EU law in comparison to the

US, an amendment of which requires a 2/3 majority in both houses and

the approval of ¾ of the states. Nevertheless, while Britain may seem

to have more 'power' over her country than the US's "18th Century

Stait Jacket"

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