Edit: Nevermind! Thanks for the help everyone!

"Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen" (sportwagen) 02/04/2015 at 23:09 • Filed to: None

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Okay, I have to have an outline done for my College Government class this Friday. The question is "Is the US Constitution a living, breathing document?". I for one do not understand the question at all. I already googled it and it made me think that it was how the Constitution had evolved over the years... but I don't think that's what it is :(

Help?

Chuck 2(O=[][]=O)2 > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/04/2015 at 23:19

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NO, BECAUSE IT DOESN'T DIE. It only becomes stronger and more refined. Also, unlike a living things, the Constitution is open to extreme interpretation. More specifically, it adapts to the time and serves as a foundation to societal standards. Also, it's pretty efficient, unlike most living things.

Jcarr > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/04/2015 at 23:20

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My understanding of this concept is this:

The question is basically asking if the constitution is adaptable and more open to interpretation as opposed to being rigid and meaning exactly what it says. Living and breathing would imply that it is adaptable and open to interpretation.

Here is a good summary of what a "living constitution" is.

I think your answer tends to come from where you fall on the political spectrum. Those who are more liberal tend to consider the constitution to be flexible and open to interpretation, whereas those who are more conservative tend to view the constitution as being more fixed and less open to interpretation.

ly2v8-Brian > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/04/2015 at 23:21

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Yes it is. The amendments are just that. They are official overarching changes for the whole of the nation.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Chuck 2(O=[][]=O)2 02/04/2015 at 23:22

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So...? Is it like what the founding fathers wanted it to be? Is that it?

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Jcarr 02/04/2015 at 23:24

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Ah, thank you very much! SOOOOO much more helpful than the teacher (I'm a senior in high school but she wouldn't give me ANY hints at all as to what she was talking about)

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > ly2v8-Brian 02/04/2015 at 23:25

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So I need to talk about whether I think the constitution has changed over the years and if so, how?

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/04/2015 at 23:29

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Yeah, because it can be expanded upon or changed at anytime just as long as it gets ratified by states. Also kinda unrelated, but you're probably too young to have seen this, but you should

Anon > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/04/2015 at 23:29

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That is a really crappy way to phrase a question, it's so open to interpriation that it's funny. Here's my guess. Does the constitution apply to everyday decision making and influence new laws. Here's how I'd structure it (assuming short essay)

-Opening/ Thesis statement

-History of ammendments added to the constitution since its conception.

-talk about interpritations of the constitution and how it changes as time goes on. Would mention women and black sufferage. The evolution of people holding arms for self defence to take on the military to personal defence. Etc.

-talk about some laws that were revoked do to them being unconsitutional.

-restatement of thesis and finisher

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 02/04/2015 at 23:30

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No, I've seen it like a million times (actually watched it a week ago in business law lol)

Thanks!

Cajun Ginger > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/04/2015 at 23:31

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interpretation by the supreme court.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Anon 02/04/2015 at 23:31

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FIVE FUCKING PAGES LONG

GODDAMNIT....

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Cajun Ginger 02/04/2015 at 23:33

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Um pretty sure that started with marbury vs madison, not the founding fathers...

Leadbull > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 02/04/2015 at 23:34

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/Trainlopnik

ly2v8-Brian > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/04/2015 at 23:36

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The amendments

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_a…

They are changes to the constitution. some good ones to consider

13th- Abolished slavery Ratified 1865

19th- Prohibits gender restrictions on voting Ratified 1920

Those are simple one's (everyone will get them)

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > ly2v8-Brian 02/04/2015 at 23:38

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Oh, I also can only have a maximum of two internet sources... and a minimum of ten total...

FOR A FUCKING FIVE PAGE PAPER (Double spaced, 12 pt font, Times New Roman, MLA format)

Leadbull > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/04/2015 at 23:38

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Not bad at all, considering there's 27 amendments.

Just pick a few important ones and ramble on as much as you can.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Leadbull 02/04/2015 at 23:38

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Where would I find them in print? The library?

ly2v8-Brian > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/04/2015 at 23:40

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Leadbull > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/04/2015 at 23:40

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_a…

http://constitutioncenter.org/constitution/t…

I'm sure you know this, but do not cite Wikipedia. It's still a goldmine of information, though.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Leadbull 02/04/2015 at 23:41

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Cite the sources that Wikipedia uses ;) They are all at the bottom of the page, after all

Anon > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/04/2015 at 23:41

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No need to fear! An English major is here! Inflating page numbers is what we're good at!

Some more ideas.

Talk about the 18th amendment and its repeal.

Talk about pleading the fith

Abolishment of slavery

The 22nd about how limited terms in office got started

Leadbull > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/04/2015 at 23:43

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This and cntrl + F is how you pass college.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Anon 02/04/2015 at 23:44

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Thanks! Now, I can only have two internet sources and minimum of ten sources total... where would I get at least eight other sources? (And not just at the library, I'm 17 and can't get my own card! >:( REALLY?!)

Leadbull > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/04/2015 at 23:46

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Doesn't your school have some sort of academic search database?

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Leadbull 02/04/2015 at 23:46

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YESSSSS

although it is command f for me... (MacBook Pro FTW!)

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Leadbull 02/04/2015 at 23:46

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No :(

Leadbull > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/04/2015 at 23:47

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It's a college, right? Like, you get credits from the college?

They should give you access to that.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Leadbull 02/04/2015 at 23:48

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I get credit, but I'm in high school...

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/04/2015 at 23:49

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Have you tried a library? They have books that will have more than enough information for your paper. Also people there to help you look for a book.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 02/04/2015 at 23:50

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I'll try to get one of my parent's library cards tonight...

Leadbull > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/04/2015 at 23:51

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Yeah, but didn't you have to enroll with the college in order to receive credit?

If you got any sort of student ID and password, you should be able to access some sort of database from their library's website. At least that's how it worked for me. Most community colleges should have services like that. Even my HS did, and it was a run of the mill public school.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Leadbull 02/04/2015 at 23:53

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Yeah, but I can't remember what happened to the paper with my ID and password :'(

I'll probably try the school library tomorrow and hit up the city library on friday with my parents...

Anon > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/04/2015 at 23:55

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google scholar is your best friend. Tons of book archives and scholarly journals and you can cite them as such. You can include your text book too. If you have access to JSTOR (like google scholar but with more stuff, however only some universities have access), it's great resource. Also don't you have a university library? Even if you can't check anything out you can always look around for free. Encyclopedias are your best friend. Find something in the books at the library, take a picture, write down name, author, publisher, publisher's city, and page number. Now then call some family and do some interviews about how certain amendments changed their lives. Also there's plenty of documentarys about black and women's sufferage. Between all of those you should have all your sources covered.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Leadbull 02/04/2015 at 23:56

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OOOOO the local small library has this! http://www.amazon.com/The-Supreme-Co…

Leadbull > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/04/2015 at 23:59

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You should ask the school librarian if they have a search database. They probably do.

Leadbull > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/05/2015 at 00:01

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Pro tip for Amazon:

New books normally have a "preview" function that shows the first chapter or so of each book. Just pull quotes from there. I've satisfied many source requirements this way.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Anon 02/05/2015 at 00:02

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No uni library, however... the local government has SHITLOAD of books apparently... and I think I can check them out!

http://www.amazon.com/The-Declaratio…

http://www.amazon.com/The-Supreme-Co…

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Jeffers…

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Leadbull 02/05/2015 at 00:03

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No, that's just the book that the local library (not the city library) has! I also found two others that will work also!

PyramidHat > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/05/2015 at 00:03

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Breathing? No. Living? Well..it should be. Using "living" in this context simply means that a document can be amended and updated. This does happen to some extent with the Amendments, but the sometimes literal interpretation of some of the meanings (people focusing on the letter, not the intent) means it does not live and evolve as much as it should.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > PyramidHat 02/05/2015 at 00:04

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Thanks :)

Leadbull > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/05/2015 at 00:05

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I know, but this way you can cite books without going to the trouble of actually tracking them down and checking them out.

This is useful when you're writing about some obscure topic for your humanities requirement and you pushed the assignment off until the night before it's due.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Leadbull 02/05/2015 at 00:08

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Uhhh..... yeah. It's due Friday so I'm not quite that bad ;)

Textured Soy Protein > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/05/2015 at 00:10

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This question is asking your opinion on whether the constitution should be interpreted with a loose constructionist (a.k.a. "living document") or strict constructionist (a.k.a. originalist) perspective.

The former is the belief that the wording of the constitution must be interpreted through a lens of current society, the latter is the belief that the constitution should be interpreted based on the original intent and meaning of the people who wrote the thing.

Pick a side, find some sources, make an argument.

PyramidHat > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/05/2015 at 00:10

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Glad to help. Good luck with the class...

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Textured Soy Protein 02/05/2015 at 00:11

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THANKS!!! Man, I got a lot of ideas in the past hour...

jariten1781 > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/05/2015 at 00:26

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Seconding what Atlas said. The question is driving at the originalist vs. revisionist debate. Just stating that it can be amended doesn't really capture the nuances between those, that's a given. The big question out there is whether the 'intent' of the clauses and amendments can be interpreted differently for the modern world without actually amending it to have the wording expressly reflect that. Take a look at the expansion of federal powers claimed under the interstate commerce and postal roads clauses and the debates surrounding those.

wantafuncar > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/05/2015 at 00:27

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I don't think it is getting at amendments — I think it is getting at jurisprudence.

There is a theory in case law called the "living Constitution" — this is my guess. Do you have the ability to research major cases? That might be a better way. The basic idea is living v. strict construction — i.e. living Constitution folks believe that the document must adapt — it is living and breathing adn so they interpret it broadly. Strict construction looks to the actual language, and sometimes to the original intent, but thats about it. It is a lot more in depth than that, but I believe that is what the prompt is getting at.

Source: I was a poli sci major at a tough school, then law school, now a practicing attorney.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > wantafuncar 02/05/2015 at 00:28

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IDK...

wantafuncar > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/05/2015 at 00:30

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what?

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > wantafuncar 02/05/2015 at 00:31

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I don't have access to many major cases or internet databases... as far as I know :(

I'm mostly stuck to google scholar and the local library...

wantafuncar > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/05/2015 at 00:37

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yeah but these are major cases and normally probably available online. i found this in a two second google search: http://www.law.uchicago.edu/alumni/magazin…

also it is a theory as well, so there are probably books about it (i don't recall what i studied on this issue exactly, been out of school for years).

Based on the prompt, you could probably go with something more like an explanation of living const. v. other methods of construction).

take the info you can get, take a position and argue it, list the position both sides, give an example or three of each type of construction, decide why yours is better/stronger... that should be worth an A if well written

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > wantafuncar 02/05/2015 at 00:39

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I'll see if I can fit it in (Read: I can fit it in, just how well will it apply?)

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Anon 02/05/2015 at 22:15

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I just finished retyping my outline...

Link to document

Advice?

Anon > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 02/05/2015 at 22:41

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Looks great! Now just write the 5 pages and I'll look over your rough draft and give you some feedback

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Anon 02/05/2015 at 22:47

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Okay, hopefully I'll have that done by Monday evening (I have Monday off for some reason or another, good day for typing :P