Of the People, By the People, For the People

March 27, 2008

               The U.S. Constitution has been in the news more in the last seven years than at any time that I can remember.  Should we adopt a constitutional amendment banning flag burning?  How much power does the President really have?  Can your child’s school principal search her locker, or his backpack?  Who is your representative?  When can you vote for a new one?  Few Americans know the answers to these questions. 

               Schools used to teach a course called “Civics”.  Civics concerns the rules by which our governments are organized, and how they operate.  Many schools don’t even teach it any more.  Most Americans have no idea how our own government works.  Yet with current world events, news commentators regularly debate various parts of our Constitution.  There is talk of changing it.  What does all of this mean?  How can we develop our own opinions?  First, let’s look at the background.

               In 1776, some ordinary citizens who didn’t like the way that England governed its Colonies decided to break away and form a new country.  On July 4, they wrote a letter to King George III, stating their goals and their reasons.  We call it the Declaration of Independence.  Well, the King didn’t welcome such treason.  After the Revolutionary War, the victorious rebels designed a new country from scratch.  Imagine that.  No one had ever done that before.  The very idea was unheard of.  It was called the “noble experiment”.

               The United States Constitution is a remarkable document.  The states adopted, or ratified, it on September 19, 1787.  Its 4490 words were written by a group of farmers and businessmen whose average age was 42.  It established a brand new nation, and has been a model for other countries for more than two hundred years.  It is the oldest working constitution in the world.  It still affects your life in countless ways every day.  It takes about an hour to read it, yet few people ever do.

               The seven articles of the main body describe the federal government.  They list the branches of government, and the powers and duties of each branch.  We have amended, or changed, that framework 27 times.  Those amendments list the rights of the citizens and make other changes to the body of the constitution.

               The 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention could have put anything they wanted into it.  There were no limits, but there was much debate.  In the end, they balanced the power between the federal government and the states, and divided the power among three branches.  They created a system called checks and balances.  They separated the powers so that no one in the government can gather too much power.

               The three levels of government are federal, state, and local.  Each level has three branches – the executive, legislative, and judicial.  At the federal level, the president heads the executive branch.  Congress is the legislative (law-making) branch.  The federal courts compose the judicial (judging) branch.  The state level includes the governor, the legislature, and the state courts.  Your local government – city, town, or county – probably has some form of mayor (or manager) and council.  There may also be a local court system, but most are supervised by the states.  Local governments also include school districts and authorities, such as port authorities, sanitary authorities, etc.

               The executive branch conducts the daily business of the government.  It operates the bureaucracy through cabinet departments.  At the federal level, the IRS is part of the Treasury Department, the Interior Department operates the National Park Service, and the Justice Department directs the FBI.  State governments include such departments as Education, Agriculture, and Transportation.  Your local government contains the Public Works, Recreation, Public Safety, and other departments.  Congress is required to oversee the federal executive departments, although they haven’t been doing such a good job of it lately.

               Congress is the federal legislative (law-making) body and consists of two houses.  The House of Representatives contains 435 members, each representing approximately 646,952 people.  Each state has at least one representative.  Pennsylvania has nineteen members of Congress.  There are 100 members of the Senate – two for each state.  The Constitution allows Congress to make its own rules of procedure.  Under current rules, Congress works through committees.  A member of the majority political party (Democratic, Republican, etc.) chairs each committee.  For example, the Appropriations Committees oversee bills involving the spending of money, the Armed Services Committees review bills regarding the military, and the Foreign Relations Committees supervise US dealings with other countries.  Each member sits on several committees. 

               When a member introduces a bill to Congress, the appropriate committee reviews it and may hold hearings to gather information.  If the committee approves, the bill goes to the full House or Senate for a vote by all members.  Both houses must approve every bill before it goes to the President.  The bill becomes law after the President signs it.

               The courts clarify the law and resolve disputes among individuals, companies, organizations, and government agencies.  The federal court system divides the country into areas served by U.S. District Courts.  The Courts of Appeals and the Supreme Court complete the set. 

               All federal, state, and local elected and appointed officials, judges, military personnel, and law enforcement officers take an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America.  Unfortunately, most of them have never read it.

               Each state also has its own constitution, in which it must accept the authority of the federal government and the U.S. Constitution.  Most state governments are similar to the federal.  Local governments are established by Charters, which are approved by their states. 

               The Constitution affects your life every day.  Every law must be constitutional – even your local parking ordinances.  You can vote because the constitution says so.  You can speak at your school board meeting.  You pay taxes because the constitution says so.  You can attend any church you wish, or none at all.  You can read any book or newspaper.  You can criticize the government anywhere, anytime, because the constitution says you can.  If you are arrested, you have rights, because the constitution says so.

               So, how can you participate in this marvelous process?  Most importantly, you can VOTE.  You can even be a lobbyist.  When you call or write your representatives about an issue, you are lobbying.  And it’s really not a dirty word.  The first amendment says you can do it.  You can also join organizations that lobby for issues that you care about.  There are local, state, and national organizations issue under the sun, and most of them have Web sites, if you’re interested in finding them.

               So, take an hour.  Read the Constitution.  You’ll be glad you did. 

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