The Arizona Constitution

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The Arizona Constitution is one of the most important documents in the state of Arizona. The Arizona Constitution is the governing document of the state. It affects all the counties municipalities/corporations, and primary and secondary schools. This is a living document and was created for the people by the people. On February 14 1912 Arizona become a state, and the Arizona Constitution was born. The Arizona Constitution is made of 28 articles that give rights and laws to the citizens. The constitution gives instructions for how that state shall be ran. The state is made up of three branches of government, the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branch. All the branches make sure that no branch has too much power. The state also has a direct government that gives more rights to the people. The constitution also can be amended if the people feel it is needed. The Arizona constitution is a governing document over the people, but the people do have power over the laws and government of their state.

Arizona is made up of fifteen counties with similar governments required to follow the basic design specified in the state constitution. This presents challenges because of the various sizes and make up of each county. The counties of Arizona follow the oldest pattern of government dividing power between an elected leader and many individually elected officials. The leader of county government is the board of supervisors. They vary in size depending on the size of the county. The rest of the officials include a sheriff, county attorney, recorder, treasurer, assessor, superior court clerk, and a superintendent of schools (McClory, 2001). The traditional form of government has been blamed for many of Arizona’s counties troubles....

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...living document fulfill the big picture that the founders had in mind when they created it. Given the power, the citizens of Arizona have the ability to reshape the constitution into whatever they need it to be in their state.

Works Cited

McClory, T. Understanding the Arizona Constitution, The University of Arizona Press, 2001

Arizona State Legislature. (2009). Arizona Constitution Article 13. Retrieved on March 14,

2012, from: http://www.azleg.gov/Constitution.asp?Article=13

Arizona Constitution. (2009) Arizona Constitution Article 11. Retrieved on March 10, 2012

from: http://www.azleg.state.az.us/Constitution.asp?Article=11

Hoffman, Dennis. Arizona State University. January 2009. Retrieved on March 10, 2012 from:

http://www.asu.edu/budgetcuts/documents/Education_Funding_in_Arizona_Constitutional_Requirement_and_the_Empirical_Record.pdf

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