Introduction
The United States’ constitution was created in during the constitutional convention of 1787 and has served the nation since then. The country has also changed in many ways in those two centuries since the constitution was made such as population increase from 1 million to 300 million today yet the constitution has remained unchanged. This makes the US constitution the oldest in the world, where 159 countries of the world had a constitution by the end of the 20th century. Some countries have had more than one constitution for example France, which have had ten different and distinct constitutions (Cato Institute, 2002). Some other countries have adopted the US constitution with various degrees of success but not as nearly successfully as the US. This then leads to the question of what makes the US constitution to survive for that long and why attempts to adopt it by other countries have not been successful. The discussion that follows answers these questions in details.
The US constitution has the principle of clear and balanced separation of powers in the three structures of the government, that is, the legislature represented by the congress and is charged with the power to create laws, the executive represented by the president and his advisers charged with the power to enforce laws and the judicially represented by supreme court and the federal courts charged with the power to dismiss or reverse laws that it feels are ‘unconstitutional’. Separation of powers and responsibility ensures that each branch of government performs its mandate without conflict with the other and the interests of minority citizens are safeguarded from those of the majority rule. It also creates state and federal governments using the same principle. This system ensures that each arm does not overstep its mandate as the other can easily censure it (United States Senate, 2009).
The flexibility of the US constitution is another feature that has made it survive for more than two centuries and reason it does not work outside US. The constitution is around 6000 thousand words which lays down the basic details about the four principles it is made of. This allows room for the document to be interpreted to met the needs of the changing time without loosing its meaning or altering the original intent of the founders. This is made possible by the mandate of the US Supreme Court to interpret its meaning and application. In most countries that adapt it they have no institution charged with this mandate or is made overly detailed so as it looses meaning while interpreting (Collier& Collier, 2007).
The basic moral principle in which the US constitution was based is another strength that has made it survive for more than two centuries. The founders of the constitution derived the principles grounding the constitution on the Declaration of independence in which a basic truth recognized that all men are created equal with undeniable natural rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These rights required that one respects the rights of another. This is how a government is instituted in the constitution: to protect and safeguard these rights meaning government is constituted for by the people for the people instead of the other way round, as experienced in other countries (Collier& Collier, 2007 & Stevens, 1995).
Conclusion
The United States’ constitution has lasted for more than two centuries surviving a civil war and assassinations among other things. This is because of several strong features of the document such as its flexibility which allows it to meet the needs of the people, the basic moral principle of equal rights to life, liberty and persuasion of happiness and clear and balanced separation of powers among the three structures of government.
Reference list
Cato Institute. (2002). The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America. Cato Institute.
Collier, C. & Collier, J. L. (2007). Decision in Philadelphia: the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Random House.
Stevens, R. G. (1995). The Declaration of independence and the constitution of the United States of America. National Defense University Press.
United States Senate. (2009). Constitution Day.