Evaluate The View That The Entrenched And Codified Nature Of The US Constitution Has More Advantages Than Disadvantages.(30)

Question 1

Para 1 - ➡️ Is The Fact It Is Difficult To Change An
Advantage Or Disadvantage?
- For: Key Principles Of The Constitution Are Protected By A Difficult Amendment
Process

Answer 1

– The amendment process guarantees this through requiring supermajorities. The proposal
stage requires 2/3 support from both houses of Congress, whilst the ratification stage
requires a majority vote in 3/4 of state legislatures.
- This was intentionally designed by the Founding Fathers to protect the key principles of the
Constitution, which they saw as a sacred document that protected the freedom of the
population.
These key principles include the separation of powers, checks and balances, limited
government, federalism and the protection of rights.
- The Bill of Rights in particular protects key freedoms of the population and is itself protected
by the entrenched nature of the population.
- The First Amendment, for example, guarantees freedom of speech among other things.
This has been protected by the difficult amendment process from proposed
amendments that threaten it, such as the failed Flag Desecration Amendment, which
would’ve banned burning the US flag.

Question 2

Para 1 - ➡️ Is The Fact It Is Difficult To Change An
Advantage Or Disadvantage?

Answer 2

Against: The Constitution Is Rigid, Outdated And Fails To Evolve As Society
Does
– The 2nd Amendment, for example, can be seen as ill-designed for the 21st century and
makes the US out of step with other modernised democracies.
It was originally designed to ensure that the US population could rise up against a
tyrannical government, yet arguably fails to make sense in the 21st century, because the
technologically advanced US military would easily defeat any uprising.
The failure to amend it or pass any substantive legislation to limit access to guns
leads to countless senseless killings every year, however.
– This can be seen in the proposed Equal Rights Amendment, which was proposed by
Congress with supermajorities in the 1970s and had major support across the US
population, but just failed to reach the 3⁄4 of states needed to amend the constitution.

Question 3

Paragraph Two ➡️ Does It Give Too Much Power To The Judiciary?
For: Judicial Review Allows The Constitution To Be Flexible And Evolve

Answer 3

• For example, through most of the 20th century, the Supreme Court interpreted the Commerce
  Clause in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution as giving Congress broad regulatory power
  over the US, as well as a range of other implied powers.
  – is Roe v Wade in 1973, in which the Supreme Court effectively legalised abortion across
  the United States by deciding that women had the constitutional right to an abortion under the
  right to privacy, derived from the 14th amendment.

Question 4

Paragraph Two ➡️ Does It Give Too Much Power To The Judiciary?
- Against: Unelected Supreme Court Judges Are Given Far Too Much Power

Answer 4

– It is the Supreme Court’s job to implement the constitution and therefore interpret it how
they wish. This allows justices to make huge changes to political life and to the constitution
through changing its interpretation.
It shouldn’t be the job of 9 unelected judges to decide how the constitution should change
through judicial activism, simply because the formal amendment process is too rigid to work
effectively.
– In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022), the Supreme Court
reinterpreted the fourteenth amendment to remove the constitutional right to an abortion
under privacy law.

Question 5

Paragraph Three ➡️ Does The Constitution Effectively Protect
Democracy And Abuses Of Power?
- For: The Rules Of Government And Division Of Power Between Different Parts
Of The Political System Are Clear, Protecting Against Abuses Of Power Within
The Political System

Answer 5

• The codification of the constitution makes clear the rules of government and the limitations of
  government power, ensuring that it is clear when the government abuses power and that it can
  be held to account.
  The judiciary plays a key role in checking the power of other branches, particularly that of
  Congress, by striking down legislation/government actions that breach the constitution.
  – example, the Affordable Care Act’s provision that required states to expand
  Medicaid provision or lose their existing federal funding for Medicaid programmes was
  struck down by the Supreme Court in National Federation of Independent Business v.
  Sebelius in 2012.
  The Supreme Court declared the action an “unconstitutional overreach of federal
  power” and as a result, states could still not expand Medicaid and keep their
  existing Medicaid funding.

Question 6

Paragraph Three ➡️ Does The Constitution Effectively Protect
Democracy And Abuses Of Power?
- Against: The Amendment Process Is Undemocratic And Facilitates Abuses Of
The Political System

Answer 6

• The Senate and Electoral College can be seen as undemocratic as they give a
  disproportionate amount of voting power to smaller states, however they are highly unlikely
  to ever be removed through constitutional amendment as a certain portion of these states
  would have to vote to decrease their own power.
  – It can also be argued that the constitution doesn’t adequately protect rights. The 2nd
  Amendment, for example, has facilitated mass loss of life in school shootings, arguably
  infringing on the right to life.
  – In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, for example, the First Amendment was
  used to justify rich individuals being able to donate huge amounts of money to political
  campaigns.