Examples Of Improving The Articles Of Confederation

Improving the Articles of Confederation Ratified in 1781, the Articles of Confederation brought forth the first Constitution of the newly named United States of America, setting its sights on a strong central government. But, although all the colonies reached an agreement, the implementation of the Articles soon indicated that various requirements of a strong Nation weren’t being actualized. Weaknesses expressed by the Articles include, but aren’t limited to: the lack of an effective judicial system, the lack of efficient diplomacy, as well as the inability for congress to successfully tax the nation. These deficiencies were rectified in the first three articles of the current U.S. Constitution, with the creation of the Judicial and Executive

Determining the specificities of what the framers originally intended, however, is the subject to some debate. Saikrishna Prakash, a distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Virginia, analyses the question of original meaning of executive power in his essay “The Essential Meaning of Executive Power”. He argues that not only is the president chief legislator, chief military officer, and the nation's top diplomat, he is “first and foremost...the chief executive empowered by the executive power to execute Congress’s laws and to control the law execution of executive officers”(Prakash, 820). He also acknowledges Justice Scalia’s assessment “that a complete understanding of the executive power might take 7,000 pages and thirty years to complete”(Prakash, 820). Suggesting that we have to be cautious in trying to analyze the presidency from a pure originalist point of view, and that we have to adapt to the ambiguities that result from the evolution of presidential power. This sets the stage for the checks and balances from the judicial and legislative branches of government that must be, and have been, done at times in order to reign in the power of the presidency. The successes, not only in the subsequent leadership, growth, and ability of the executive office, but the successful checks and balances in the 20th century, such as Watergate, U.S. v Nixon, and others, are thanks to the founder’s framing of the way our government operates. Strong leadership, while having a guaranteed opportunity to change a government that may have become too powerful, is an inherently American ideal, and is what the founders intended for the future of our