The framers of the Constitution
The framers of the Constitution made many choices that affect American politics today. What’s one thing they got right and one thing you think they got wrong? Why? Be sure to explain both parts of your answer.
The framers of the constitution decided to create a limited government that was based on the ideas of natural rights, republicanism, popular sovereignty, and social contract. It is important to note that in 1776, the Declaration of Independence came after the Second Continental Congress and it mainly stated the specific grievances with the British monarchy and made it clear that a separate government was about to be created. Therefore, the formation of the United States of America as a separate entity had to answer two important crucial questions. The first question was the type of government that the US would be? The second question was about the kind of government that would protect the people without any violation of their individual freedoms and liberties. Therefore, it was a matter of making tough choices, and which have impacted American politics up to date. The many choices that the framers of the constitution have had both positive and negative impacts on the American political landscape.
One important thing that the framers got it right was the idea of republicanism. The framers created a form of government that had elected to represent the interests of the people, which entails the idea of republicanism. Therefore, it is republicanism that has influenced American politics to date as leaders that are elected each electoral period are deemed as representatives of the people’s interests. As a result, American political history has never characterized tyrants as the citizens were given the mandate to choose their leaders through the electoral processes after every four years. By creating a governance system that involved people electing their leaders, the Framers believed that there would be fewer chances of a government or individual holding onto power and refusing to give up. Thus, for more improvement250 years the system of government in the United States has never characterized incidences of leaders holding onto power as the people were given the power to elect their leaders. Hence, it is evident that the Framers got it right by creating the republicanism system of governance, in which it has shaped American politics to date allowing the people to choose leaders that represent their interests.
However, the Framers got it wrong by not giving every citizen equal opportunity to have their interest heard as only a small portion of US citizens remained eligible for voting for the longest time in American politics. Although it was the desire of the framers to create a representative government, the privilege of voting originally remained limited white and landowning men. Therefore, for some long period, the only group of people that was allowed to take part in electing leaders were white and landowning men. The women and people of color were prohibited from voting, as well as seeking political leadership positions. Based on American political history, it took about 200 years to extend the voting rights to all the citizens in the country. Thus, it means that the needs and wants of every person were nor heard or represented in government for most of the American political history.
In conclusion, the choices of the Framers were influential in shaping American politics today, in which both positive and negative impacts have been characterized over the years. It is interesting how the framers effectively made the choice of republicanism that has proven effective in preventing tyranny in the leadership of the US since the country’s independence. Nonetheless, when the Framers limited the electoral process to involve only a small portion of the population, the country was negatively affected leading to brutal instances of discrimination based on race and gender across societies in America.