Contemporary U.S Constitutional Government

Contemporary U.S Constitutional Government
Notably, contemporary U.S constitutional government utilizes both public administrative instrumentalism and constitutional contractarianism in attempts to accomplish a harmonious governmental law. Even though the government’s powers were previously rooted in management, the second semi-twentieth century turned its focus to pedagogy and supposition. The resulting approach ensured that the modern public administration has authorized proportions that standardize administrative functions (Stanton, 2011). Nevertheless, creating an apprehension between the two methods enhances the legitimacy of the current principal institutions in administrative law. Evidently, the constitutional law flourishes with legal verdicts reprimands public bureaucrats along with democratically voted and nominated executives to hold on contractarianism. In this case, the efficiency, economy, as well as administration effectiveness, are foregone to uphold the highest legal values. Constitutional contractarianism was created after it was established that the public officials failed to act in agreement with constitutional principles. Apparently, legal dimensions of the constitutions were adopted to save from delicate standards of the defenseless public from being oppressed due to overemphasis of competence and effectiveness by the government. In an ideal situation, high level of efficiency and efficacy would attract extol from both competent and mediocre regimes (Hamowy, 2008).

Insufficient resources cannot be used to justify citizenry oppression in the name of seeking effective resource management.
On the other hand, public administrative instrumentalism focuses on common business management as opposed to legal parameters. It requires the administrators to ensure high productivity level regardless of the expenses or total cost incurred. Alternatively, this approach concentrates on managerial values, which are paramount to the U.S. This is mainly because of efficiency in public and resource management, economic growth and so forth, with the least possible resources or money. Legislative efforts to hold public officials accountable are often seen as micromanaging from a managerial point of view. Accordingly, the above description indicates how public administrative instrumentalism and constitutional contractarianism makes up the modern administrative law. While constitutional contractarianism focuses on protecting the constitutional values of an ordinary American citizen, public administrative instrumental concentrates on enhancing the efficiency of the government whilst adhering to the highest constitutional values (Bakken & Farrington, 2000). Unmistakably, having any of the approaches exceeding the other one will result in detrimental consequences, either from a social or cost-effective perspective.
Therefore, posing a tension between constitutional contractarianism and public administrative instrumentalism correctly describes how administrative law fits into the present U.S constitutional government. This is mainly because the U.S government must look after vulnerable citizens from being overexploited and at the same time ensure national economic growth and development. Besides, public officials are elected and nominated to serve the Americans and hence they must be accountable to them through constitutional strictures (Stanton, 2011).

(Discussion #2)
Three Modifications in the Aspects of Present U.S Constitutional Law
Typically, the American legal structure has numerous distinctive aspects, which contributes to its uniqueness among democratic nations in the world. These elements guide how the American government is supposed to conduct its domestic and foreign activities in various fields. However, not all features are desirable, since some of them have outlived their importance in the modern world. Therefore, three major aspects that should be considered in the modification of the contemporary system are historical reliance, presidential system, and judicial composition.
Historical Reliance
Conspicuously, a significant part of the modern legal structures is based on historical judicial verdicts, decisions, and some instances interpretations. Albeit these determinations and bundles of laws are relevant to the modern generation, scores of generations have changed since they were first made. For instance, Miranda versus Arizona in 1966 and Weeks against the United States in 1914 are extensively used in the present generation (Pollock, 2009). This is despite the fact that numerous changes have taken place since this period.
Correspondingly, the behavior and reasoning of people are significantly influenced by social factors, which are dynamic. This means that social factors affecting the society when these rulings and reviews were made have changed. This enhances the risk of the modern law to unwarranted interpretations, especially given that the level of illiteracy has tremendously increased, exposing the future legal system to arguments based on the modern perception. Consequently, the contemporary constitutional law should be based on factual evidence, supported by social, political and above-board theories, models or evidence. This will increase the competence and efficacy of the modern law (Reed, 2001).
The Presidential System
The United States is perhaps one of the countries with adamant democratic institutions. This gives the American presidents direct mandates since the common citizens directly elect them. Whereas this system is vital in defining political activities and the overall economy, they also expose the country and other institutions to various flaws, reducing the efficiency of the presidential system in America. It jeopardizes the country towards impunity, particularly when the president decides to contravene public opinion. A classic example is a Vietnamese war and war on terror, where the American president supported it despite opposition and outcry (Henn, 2010). Moreover, the absence of harmony puts the relationship among the legislative organs at risk. While as each arm of the government is supposed to be independent, lack of harmony stalls communication, which eventually reduces the efficiency of the overall state’s productivity.
In addition to this, separation of power amongst these arms may result to a standstill. For example, the standstill witnessed in 1995 in the Bill Clinton’s administration illustrates the effects of a gridlock within the presidential system. In this case scenario, the president was the Democrats while the Republicans had the numbers in Congress. This made it difficult for the president to pass his campaign pledges and serve the people effectively. Thus, the constitutional law should be modified to extensively address the challenges associated the presidential system, or adopted a more flexible structure (Henn, 2010).
Judicial Composition
The American legal system is a complex one, especially when the relationship between juries and judges are considered. Usually, juries listen and vote about legal proceedings, with sufficient proof of their decisions. However, the judge still retains the final verdict, as s/he can simply overturn the decision by the jury on the grounds of insufficient evidence. This is a total waste of resources and time, increasing the overall cost of maintaining the judicial system. An experienced and well-trained judge can quickly pass a credible and competent verdict as opposed to the juries, who are often inexperienced and untrained. The constitutional law should be amended to do away with such structures, increasing the efficiency of judicial administration and management (Pollock, 2009).
Conclusion
Although the modern American constitutional law appears to be efficient in the management of various regimes, several factors should be modified to increase its productivity. These factors are historical reliance, the presidential system, and judicial composition. Historical reliance jeopardizes legal sustainability while presidential system puts American values at the hands of the president risking tyranny and political rivalry that can hurt the wellbeing of the country. Lastly, the judicial composition, especially the juries, forms redundant positions, increasing the burden of administrative expenses.
References
Bakken, G. M., & Farrington, B. (2000). The law in the West. New York: Garland Pub.
Hamowy, R., & Sage Publications. (2008). The encyclopedia of libertarianism. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications.
Henn, M. J. (2010). Under the color of law: The Bush administration’s subversion of U.S. constitutional and international law in the War on Terror. Lanham, Md: Lexington Books.
Pollock, E. E. (2009). The Supreme Court and American democracy: Case studies on judicial review and public policy. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press.
Reed, D. S. (2001). On equal terms: The constitutional politics of educational opportunity. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press.
Stanton, T. (January 01, 2011). Authority and Freedom in the Interpretation of Locke’s Political Theory. Political Theory, 39, 1, 6-30.