The Founding and the Constitution Research Paper

The Founding and the Constitution - Research Paper Example s required given the absolute nature of laws written into the Constitution, so the document is laying out a requirement that seeks a high standard of judgment. Also, the Constitution requires super majority votes from both the Senate as well as the House because, in theory, the two parts of the legislature were meant to represent different interests and different people (the Senate representing more of the small, rural states, which get to send two Senators in all cases whereas the House representing more of the populous states, which get to send representatives on the basis of population) (Alder). The second procedure (the â€Å"informal method†) for proposing amendments to the Constitution provides protection for states to an unresponsive Congress. If two-thirds of states agree to call for a convention, the Congress is obliged to call a convention. This method has neither constitutional instruction for how to complete the convention nor precedent to be relied upon. It is not clear whether the states would be represented equally or by population. With that said, all amendments to the Constitution have been carried out through the first procedure described. The Founders may have wanted this second procedure as a way of empowering the states and protecting against an intrusive, federal government (Mount). 2. â€Å"Loose construction† refers to a loose or liberal interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, thus expanding federal powers beyond those explicitly mentioned in the document. In contrast, â€Å"strict construction† refers to the opposite: it is a legal philosophy that requires the interpreter of the Constitution to apply the text only as it is written. In other words, powers not enumerated in the Constitution are invalid (Welch). As was described previously, the formal method of amendment has a clear process described in the Constitution, which maps onto the normal procedure for business of the Congress in creating laws. Therefore, the formal method of