CMRJ302

150 words agree or disagree

The United States operates under a constitutional democracy which means that the Constitution has ultimate power in order to protect the people and limit the power of the government (Avbelj, 2018). Constitutional democracy works for the U.S. because American’s and their freedoms are the purpose of our government and a functional society. In an attempt to separate or limit powers of the government,  the United States government was divided into three components. The Judicial, Executive, and Legislative branches have different purposes but all three serve to uphold the U.S. Constitution. The Legislative branch is controlled by Congress and its main purpose is to vote on laws. The Executive branch is controlled primarily by the President and its purpose is the carry out laws that the Legislative branch has implemented. The Judicial branch is controlled by the U.S. Supreme Court and its main purpose is to ensure laws uphold the U.S. Constitution (CRMJ 302 Lesson 1, n.d.). 
               Although the U.S. operates under a constitutional democracy, it is also formed as a federal government. Federalism is a system that has a centralized federal government responsible for national priorities which allows state governments to focus on localized priorities (CRMJ 302, Lesson 1, n.d.). Federalism supports local and state law enforcement by serving as a checks-and-balance system. This is important because it allows the state to mostly control their own laws and enforcement but it prevents an up rise against the Constitution and puts a limit to the power of state and local enforcement. When I think about this, I think of American’s that have had to appeal their case with the U.S. Supreme Court due to faulty evidence or district attorneys. I think it is good to always have that checks and balance and prevent supreme power situations.  
               The first Ten Amendment’s in the Constitution are called the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights was developed specifically to protect the American’s liberties (Howard, 2009). The Bill of Rights was created because the average citizen, such as farmers, did not feel like the Constitution protected their rights enough and that it gave more power to the Federal Government than protection to citizens. Some of the most common American rights today are from the Bill of Rights. For example, Freedom of Speech is the First Amendment, right to bear arms is the Second Amendment, the right against unlawful search and seizure is the Fourth Amendment, and the right to a jury is the Fifth Amendment. It is crazy to think that the Bill of Rights that was established in 1791 is still pertinent and applicable in today’s society (Howard, 2009).
References
Avbelj, M. (2018). The sociology of (slovenian) constitutional democracy. Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, 10(1), 35-57. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy2.apus.edu/10.1007/s40803-017-0064-z
Howard, D. (2009). Bill of Rights. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/united-states-constitution/bill-of-rights
CRMJ 302, Lesson 1. (n.d.). U.S. Law Enforcement. Retrieved from https://edge.apus.edu/access/content/group/security-and-global-studies-common/Universal/CMRJ/302/elf/lesson-1/elf_index.html