A Comparison of the Nevada and the U.S. Constitutions It is generally understood that the United States is built upon the principles of democracy, in which the majority consensus of the citizens helps to define the shape of issues or elections. However, in assuming that the Constitution - the document upon which such practices are founded – is inherently democratic is only partially accurate. Indeed, it has been frequently argued that the U. S. Constitution is representative of the rule of law from a federation as opposed to a pure democracy; in a federation, elections occur among the majority of the citizenry but this process results in elected officials who then determine the direction of the country. In short, a federation …show more content…
Under the U.S. Constitution, this appointment is a lifelong position that will only be nullified if the judge resigns their post or dies in office. This creates serious contests within the partisan political environment found among federal representatives, for any candidate appointed to this post helps define the direction of the Supreme Court for the rest of their life. Thus, it is frequently believed that a president who appoints a judge to the Supreme Court is creating a legacy, helping to shape the direction of the laws for the country for a time long after their presidency has expired. This makes the selection of a judge a hotly contested process. In Nevada, in contrast, the State Supreme Court uses a “staggered” system in order to appoint their judges. The judges are selected not by presidential appointment but by “qualified electors of the State at the general election,” and are only allowed to hold their office for a limited period of years. Furthermore, the Chief Justice is only allowed to maintain their post for six years, thus reducing the opportunity to shape the direction of the state’s laws throughout the remainder of their lives. Additional points of contrast strongly suggest that the executive and legislative branches likewise show that there is a difference between the U.S. Constitution and the Nevada State Constitution. For example, in the executive branch, the sitting president has the ability to appoint individuals
The United States Constitution hold the senate as one house and the House of Representatives as the other. On the other hand, the Constitution of Virginia holds one house as the Senate and the other as the House of Delegates. The other branch is the judicial branch. This branch is known as Article three in the United States Constitution and Article six in the Constitution of Virginia. The judicial branch differs in level of courts and justices. In the United States Constitution the article including the judicial branch is very broad, while the article including the judicial branch in the Constitution of Virginia is narrow. The Constitution of Virginia narrowly states how a justice qualifies and how the retirement process occurs once the justice resigns. While the United States Constitution states more about what courts have jurisdiction and how it interprets cases.
Since the time of the Framers, the United States has experienced major changes in different significant aspects of the economy such as medicine, technology, politics, and social perceptions of judges. According to their research, the average tenure of a Supreme Court Justice has increased significantly since 1971. In the beginning years of the Supreme Court, Justices stayed on the court for an average of seven years, as time went on the average increased to fourteen years, now Justices are averaging almost twenty years on the court. They also analyzed the average age of Justices when leaving office. Between 1971 and 2006, the average age of a Justice when leaving office was seventy-eight years
The United States Constitution begins with the simple phrase “We the People”. Yet, with three simple words, the ideology it stands for has shaped the entire country (O’Connor et al., 2011). The short phrase signifies that the document, and thus, the government, is based upon the people themselves. The Constitution reflects the culture and ideologies of its citizens. Similarly, state constitutions reflect the people, albeit in a more specific locality. The key differences between the United States Constitution and that of local states are due to the distinctions between the scope and characteristics of the people they govern.
Judicial deliberations are different from that of the legislature because judiciaries at the federal level do not represent constituents or seek to be reelected. Judicial independence at the federal level provides a guarantee that judges are free to rule in an honest and nonpartisan manner that is in line with the law and evidence, without concern or fear of interference, control, or improper influence from anyone. This guarantee is provided because judges at the federal level are appointed for life, and need not to worry about partisanship. Contrary to the legislature, the government does not pose a consequential threat to the power of judicial independence because it is at war with itself. However, it is commonly seen that judges at the federal level rely too heavily on
The President has the authority from the US Constitution, Article 2 Section 2 Clause 2, to choose new US Supreme Court Justices when the position becomes vacant. Barak Obama now has this opportunity presented before him. With the unfortunate passing of Justice Antonin Scalia, the President must get a list of candidates from the White Houses’ Counsel Office and figure out who is the best candidate for the prestigious position. The Senate then has the obligation given to them in the Constitution, Article 2 Section 2 Clause 2, to either confirm or deny the President’s choice for the Supreme Court. This has become a very important topic in this year’s election. This turn of events has the ability to change the power structure of the Supreme Court from Republican run to a Democratic run Court. This could change many laws in the US.
The question posed by both Madison and the Framers in the 85 “Federalist Papers” and Dahl in his book How Democratic is the American Constitution? is how effective the Constitution is at promoting the ideals of a democracy. For Dahl, there are several issues surrounding the Constitution, from its drafting, to its ideology, to its relevance. By analyzing Dahl’s critiques of the Constitution in terms of the parallels that exist between factions and the two-party system, the issue of unequal representation, and the necessity for the Framers to compromise on their ideals to ratify the Constitution, Dahl defined a clear argument based in his general disapproval for the Constitution. However, by combining Dahl’s critiques with potential rebuttals from the opinions and perspectives of Madison and his fellow Federalists, it is evident that both Dahl and the Framers believed that if the constitution was completely successful, then the lives of the American people would be enhanced. While Dahl believed that the Constitution, ultimately, has not fully protected the rights of all persons, he, like the Framers, focused on the particulars of government that must be improved such that the American life is bettered.
A very recent example of the politics involved in Supreme Court appointments was the 2001 election. It was assumed that the next president would probably be making three new appointment to the Supreme Court. Because of this fact, the president could use this
The United States Constitution defines the structure of the national government, dictates the scope, and limitation of its powers (“State Constitutions vs. The United States Constitution”, 2017, para. 1). In addition to the United States Constitution, each state has its own constitution and therefore, its own body of constitutional law as well, state constitutions resemble the Federal Constitution, they outline the state government’s structure of legislative, executive and judicial branches as well as contain the Bill of Rights (“State Constitutions vs. The United States Constitution”, 2017, para.1). When it comes to the Legislative Branch, both the United States Constitution and Utah Constitution states “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of
Why the Nevada Constitution is lengthier and what that means for Nevada judges as they do their jobs of interpreting the state constitution compared to federal counterparts.
In population Nevada is one of the smallest states of the fifty states in the Union, but it invites and receives more intense national publicity than many others. “It is a testing ground for unorthodox social theories and an outpost of solid American conservatism” (313). Because the state is so large and its centers of population is so widely scattered, no single generalization about it will suffice for a historical summary. Nevada, with its 110,000 square miles, would cover more than half of Spain. Nevada is not the largest state in the Union, but it is big enough to inspire awe in its visitors” (2).
The executive branch is in charge of enforcing the laws created by the legislature, both A notable exception is that Nevada operates underneath a plural executive, in which, the citizens vote for the appointment of governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer and controller (Bowers, 82). The U.S. Constitution does not allow for a plural executive, instead, the president appoints individuals to a position and they must be granted consent by the Senate through a simple majority vote. The Nevada constitution was amended in 1970 with a similar term-limit rule to that of the twenty-second Amendment to the U.S constitution. In both cases, the governor and President are not allowed to serve more than two full terms. A small difference is that the Nevada amendment was further changed in 1998 which set the two-term limit the other five positions in the executive branch (Bowers,
If there were too many differences, then the branches of government would be very chaotic because a lack of structure between the state and federal government. In the United States Constitution and Nevada constitution it outlines three structures of the government. They are both setup in the same and is broken into three different parts, The Legislature Department, The Executive Department and The Judiciary Department. In addition, both constitutions are broken up into articles and each article explains a general topic, but most important they both state in the preamble “We the People...” (THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF NEVADA). This quote is significant because when the constitution is brought up, it is always the document of the people and the rights of the people. So it is important that no matter what, both constitutions had this quote within them. The United States Constitution and Nevada constitution don’t have significant differences because it reduces redundancy. The government for the citizens of Nevada is ran and structured the way they are today because of these two important
When writing the Constitution, one of the most prominent arguments focused on whether America should be considered a Democracy. A large percentage of the founding fathers feared the term “Democracy” because they strongly believed that if the people had control, then there would be disorder and violence. As James Madison stated in Federalist No. 10,
This allows the executive branch to determine the makeup of the judiciary branch, and through it exercise power over the legislative branch. Because the men and women appointed to the Supreme Court remain there for life, with no public elections to possibly remove them, a president can affect politics through his choice of appointees for decades after his time in office has ended (Romance, July 29). But this, too, is limited by the Congress as the president’s judicial appointments are subject to the consent of the Senate (Landy and Milkis, 289).
The president, who is the head of the executive branch, is elected by the entire nation and serves four years. According to article II of the Constitution the president has the power of execution and enforcement of laws passed by the congress, choose cabinet members and officials, he is the head of state and the commander and chief of the armed forces. The vice president is also a part of the executive branch and is a position to take presidency in case something happened to the president. In contrast, the judicial branch officials are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. In article three of the constitution the judicial branch is established and to let the congress to determine the judicial structure, the jurisdiction of the federal courts and the number of Supreme Court Justices.