Wake Up, America! Understand the US Constitution and Get Involved

"Wake Up, America!" is a relatively short book on the US Constitution that is easy to read and digest, but more importantly, it will make the reader more aware of the shortcomings practiced in amending and updating the constitution and what we as citizens can do about it. It begins with a quick overview of history from beginning to the present and covers the evolution of nations up to the unique United States of America, where the government serves the people rather than people serving the government as all previous nations have done. It covers the founders’ personal feelings on what should be covered in the constitution and how much power should be given to the federal government, and how much power should be retained by the states. It targets the founders’ desires to be able to amend the constitution when such amendments are justified and how the amendments should be processed through ratification. Article V of the Constitution lays out the process for proposing and ratifying amendments and the book goes into detail on how this has been done up until the present, and what we must do to improve on the process. There are two ways to propose amendments, and there are two ways to ratify amendments. Congress or the States may approve proposals to amend the constitution, but only the States can ratify. So far, only the Congress has approved proposals for amending the constitution; the States never have. The president does not participate in the amendment process but he or she must uphold the constitution. There are obvious reasons why the States should be involved in proposing amendments. This book is certain to have some surprises and the reader will be pleasantly educated on this important and critical subject. The reader will also find out that there are initiatives that he or she can take to improve the current status quo on amending the constitution. The country needs citizens to get more involved in participating in governance. One objective of this book is to make citizens aware of the current shortcomings in processing amendments and what actions they can take to turn it around! The book also includes four appendices for easy reference, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the United States Constitution, and all twenty-seven ratified amendments.