What are the greatest weaknesses in the US constitution?

Question

Obviously there is a lot of stuff that we don't like about our government, and the constitution is her backbone, so what the weaknesses which are either driving or simply allowing these corruptions and problems?

I think that people are forgetting what they don't like about their government:
The role of campaign finance and special interest "lobbying"
The division of her citizens by discriminating laws
Foreign entanglements
Budgetary irresponsibility

The list goes on; there are major problems. If the problem is interpretation, the constitution was poorly written. If the problem is flagrant violations, then the courts lack sufficient power from the document. If the problem is popular ignorance, then their constitutional governance of representatives is failing them. If the problem is executive domination, then the document's separation and balance of powers is unstable and imbalanced. etc, etc.

Answer 1

The greatest weakness is it's ability to be interpreted pretty much how the current society wants to interpret it. Which, when you think about it, is caused by the weaknesses in government and society as a whole.

Let's take the separation of church and state as an example. The founding fathers promoted the separation of the two institutions as an attempt to keep government from excercising any control over a person's freedom of religion. Remember, our country was founded by people wanting to excercise different religions. Depending on where you were in Europe, you had to be either Catholic and subject to the Pope, or Protestant, depending on the political climate. The two were intertwined to the point that being the wrong religion was treason.

Here, there was supposed to be a freedom to fully embrace your religious practices and to include them in your daily life. But over time, the Establishment clause has been bullied, beaten up and bloodied to the point where it has been completely reversed. Now, the constitution is being used to keep religion out of government. That WAS NOT what the writers of the constitution were trying to do. That is evidenced by the inclusion of God in our money, pledge, and even the oaths that were always taken with your hand on the bible.

So I think it is sad that certain factions use the constitution in a way that it was never intended to be used, and I think it sadder still that our current government and society allows it.

Answer 2

Constitution Weaknesses

Answer 3

As both a document and a force I think the Constitution is rock solid. The corruption occurs based on interpretations made by the courts. Too often courts appear to act without regard to law, but rather through some unseen agenda. This practice is really the greatest threat to both the Constitution and liberty in general. No other body in government can so easily effect our rights with so little oversight for their actions.

Answer 4

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The greatest strength of the Constitution is the fact that the framers realized that it is malleable and answerable to the will of the people, and therefore they allowed for amendments to it. And the greatest proof of that is the Bill of RIghts; which was added later. The founding fathers knew that, as innovative as it was, they created an imperfect document, and they understood that it might need "tweaked" based on the society, so they allowed for that to happen. The greatest "weakness" I see is not in the Constitution itself, but in the way that our society has evolved in the legal parsing of its language. It is impossible to devine the "founders meaning" since no one, now, lived at the time. We can only guess what they meant; and the confusion about the true meaning lends itself ultimately to the divisions we experience now.

Answer 5

There are currently two that I see. The first is that I don't believe that the sitting president should be the head of his political party, because if his party also controls the legislative branch he then has the power to set the agenda for 2/3 of the government. It's just too much power for one guy to hold. The second is that there are no constrictions on how much influence businesses can have over politics. The framers did a fantastic job of setting up our constitution, but there's no way they could have forseen the current state of bipartisan politics, or the massive size of corporate entities.

Answer 6

Congress violates the constitution with impunity. The founders created the congress with citizens in mind. That of course changed a long time ago and now congress is infested with vermin most ofter referred to as career politicians. At no point in time do these people care about you or what you want, they care only about perpetuating the life they have there, getting rich, running the world, stealing from us and spending our money like there is no tomorrow.

We really need term limits but I do not believe we will get it withour first weeding out the trash.

The real problem in America is stupidity, special interest and/or laziness of the voter. How does a person who takes bribes on video, laughs about the ineptness of the FBI and puts $100K in a freezer get elected 8 times? And then the Senate leaders yell and scream about separation of powers. Yes they are right, it is about their power and even if it is against the law, you will not thwart their power.

You have career politicians running the government, not citizen legislators. Many accuse the career corporate CEO of only working for themselves, not the stockholders. Career politicians are NO different and they seem to think they are above the law and expect preferential treatment. If the only issue to remaining in power is to obtain cash, buy some votes with special interests and have the media spotlight, then the incumbent has it easy, all at your expense.

In the Senate there are:
44 Dems averaging 20.8 years in Congress
55 Reps averaging 16.1 years in Congress

these numbers begin to make it look like career politicians are in control, who have lost touch with you the citizen and are more entrenched in their own careers.

For the Senate, if you were to use two terms or 12 years in Congress as a term limit
25 Dems would need to leave and 25 Reps would need to leave.
Those Dems are averaging 27.1 years in Congress
Those Reps averaging 24.0 years.

80% of Dems in the Senate have been there more than 12 years
58% of Repubs have.

46% of Dems in the House have been there more than 12 years
32% of Repubs have.

Ben Franklin said of congress, "They are of the People, and return again to mix with the People, having no more durable preeminence than the different Grains of Sand in an Hourglass. Such an Assembly cannot easily become dangerous to Liberty. They are the Servants of the People, sent together to do the People's Business, and promote the public Welfare; their Powers must be sufficient, or their Duties cannot be performed. They have no profitable Appointments, but a mere Payment of daily Wages, such as are scarcely equivalent to their Expences; so that, having no Chance for great Places, and enormous Salaries or Pensions, as in some Countries, there is no triguing or bribing for Elections"

If you like the current political system continue voting along partisan lines. If however you are tired of the corrupt ways of elections and would like to see Franklins words be true again, vote for change.

Our country is being run by career politicians who for the most part appear to have lost touch with what you want, and are focused on what they want.

You can change this NOW.
1. Quit your partisan sniping, it is childish and only serves to remove the focus from the real problem in America.
2. Enlist your friends and family in the fight and ask them, if they agree about Congress to do the same.
3. Vote against the person who has 12 or more combined years in Congress
4. This will require in many instances you having to vote for someone outside of your normal party, but you are a patriot and you can do what is right.

Show congress in this next election that we the people are running things in this country, not career politicians. And we are going to do what is right.

I will end now with a favorite quote of mine.

“If a legislator is "safe" from competition, or if he represents groups with the same economic and political beliefs, he does not have to change his ideas or respond to the needs of the broader population. He can rest content with a mediocre, absentee performance knowing he will be returned to office. And as he is returned year after year the seniority system gives him immense control over people from other parts of the country whose views he need not heed at all.” -Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Decisions for a Decade

Answer 7

The electoral college.
Congressional term limits.

Answer 8

The corruption comes from not upholding the constitution.

Answer 9

No term limits on the Congress.

Answer 10

It is only weak if the people do not know ther Rights and allow others mis-use it's principals.