America’s Democracy: Your Report Card

One strength of the U.S. Constitution

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The biggest strength of the United States Constitution is the way it upholds the rights of its citizens. The rights and freedoms of an American citizen are contained in the constitution under the Bill Of Rights. This bill ensures that law and the government protect the American citizens’ rights. Some of these rights include the freedom of speech, the right to due process of law, and the right to bear arms (Balkin, 2013). The Bill of Rights can be seen as the founding factor for the success of the United States as a country.

One weakness of the U.S. Constitution

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One weakness of the Constitution that has come to be haunt the country is the right to bear arms. This right allows households to own firearms for protection of one’s self and engage in sport hunting of animals. However, in recent events, school shootings have become a common place in America (Blocher, 2012). In the United States, we hear stories of schoolchildren getting access to their family’s gun and using it on unsuspecting students and teachers. These rampant shootings can be directly attributed to relaxed gun laws in this country. It would be very difficult to ban guns because it is a right given to all citizens.

One option to maintain the strength of the U.S. Constitution

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The strength of the United States Constitution can be maintained by constant review of and changes to the amendments if needed. Technology and society changes with time and outdated laws can be vague and create loopholes. Malicious people (Law, & Versteeg, 2012) can misuse these loopholes. One of the recent incidents was the spying of American citizens by the National Security Agency. This agency used a loophole to justify the program. The loophole existed because the Constitution was created before mobile phones existed; hence there were no protections for the American people from unlawful government spying.

One option to correct the weakness of the U.S. Constitution

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The best way to correct the weakness of the Constitution is make it a must read for all American citizens, knowledge is power. Second, to hold convening’s for the public. In these convening’s, the public will study the Constitution, ask questions and make suggestions on places where the Constitution needs to be amended. The American citizens have the right to propose any amendments that have not been identified by our political leaders. They often view rights and laws differently than the common man. This process could ensure that the Constitution is known by a majority of the citizens. Having input from a good cross-section of society will better help flaws and omissions to be discovered (Law, & Versteeg, 2012). This is a radical idea that would need to be fleshed out a lot more before it could be actualized.

2. Reference List (utilizing full APA citations)

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Balkin, J. M. (2013). American Constitution as Our Law, The. Yale JL & Human., 25, 113.

Blocher, J. (2012). The Right Not to Keep or Bear Arms. Stanford law review, 64.

Law, D. S., & Versteeg, M. (2012). The declining influence of the United States Constitution. New York University Law Review, 87(3), 762-858.

Thank you for returning the assignment early. Upon reviewing it I noticed several things.

1. The paragraphs don't meet the length requirement listed on the worksheet. Most of them have 3 sentences instead of 5-7 sentences.

2. The fourth paragraph doesn't have an in-text citation as listed in the instructions. 

I've listed the specific instructions below and you can view them on the worksheet that was attached to the assignment.. Can you please revise the paragraphs and resend to me?

Instructions from the worksheet:

Utilizing the worksheet below, develop detailed paragraphs that focus on the first main point for your final paper. For each section, a minimum of one fully-developed paragraph is required.  A fully developed paragraph should be a minimum of 5-7 sentences in length. Each paragraph should include at least one in-text APA citation that provides support for the topic.