Are Constitutions Out of Date?

The law of a country is based on the constitution. Constitutions that are used today were written many years ago by people who had no idea what might have happened today. People who wrote the U.S Constitution, also called framers, did not have any idea about a lot of things that are essential for our daily lives. Some of them even didn’t believe in what we are so used to today. For example, Thomas Jefferson who owned many African American slaves, would not be able to imagine African American’s would be equal to white people one day. Since constitutions were written many years ago and people who wrote it weren’t able to envision what is going to today should a country’s law still be based on constitution?
Constitution is vital to a country but that doesn’t mean that it won’t contradict with what the current president will do. To illustrate this let’s look at Unites States of America’s laws against declaring a war. According to the Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution “The Congress shall have power (…) to declare war.” and the president has to withdraw his armies if the Congress didn’t give their approval in 60 days. This didn’t stop the presidents of U.S. to send military forces to other countries without the authorization of the Congress. For example, in the beginning of 1950s U.S. president at that time Harry S. Truman sent soldiers to Korean War without the approval of the Congress. The last time the Congress allowed U.S soldiers to fight in a war was during the World War 2. In today’s world a war can start any moment due to the advanced technology such as missiles that can be launched in a minute and can travel many miles. This aspect forces all the presidents around the world to act more quickly in order to protect their own country, their own people. Asking for permission from the Congress and waiting for an answer slows down the process of defending the country. When the Article 1, Section 8 was written framers didn’t take into consideration that bombing a place wouldn’t be done in just minutes.

Immigration is also a very important issue in United States. According to the 14th Amendment of the Constitution made in 1868 “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”, meaning that if a person is born in U.S. that person is automatically a citizen of U.S. even though that child’s parents aren’t a citizen. This makes a lot of non-citizens to give birth in U.S. so that they could earn a U.S. passport. Also, this amendment allows illegal immigrants to become a U.S citizen by giving a birth. This law, the 14th amendment was made after the Civil War so that slaves who did not have right to be a citizen, can become one. 14th Amendment was made so that African Americans and white people, not to allow illegal immigrants to become legal.
Changes are always made in a country’s constitution. For example, the last change that was made in the Turkish Constitution was in 2011. Last year the changes in the Turkish Constitution were made by the participation of the public. This shows that constitutions are changed due to the changes that happen as the time passes. Also, the rules in a constitution shouldn’t be followed by word by word; instead it should be interpreted to the daily situations. By this was a constitution can fulfill its duty.