The Evolution of the Franchise: Voting Through the Years. This essay explicates the evolution of who our government has allowed to vote and how changes came about

"The first constitutional principle of our people is their right to make and ultimately (one hopes) to correct their own mistakes," said Mr. Arthur Sutherland (Ross, 258). This right of the individual citizens is demonstrated in the concept of the constitution as a living, changing document. When our founding fathers formed our government, with the governing document to be the constitution, one of the main issues was the ability of the constitution to be able to …

…in many ways, especially in the area of the expansion of the franchise. My hope is that the evolution does not end. When the evolution stops, the system ceases to function correctly. This scenario can, and will ,only lead to eventual restrictions on our rights and a breakdown of American governmental structure in general. Works Cited Ross, Robert S. American National Government: Institutions, Policy, and Participation. Fourth Edition. Chicago: Brown & Benchmark Publishers, 1996. Pages 257-281.