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THE CONSTITUTION AT 200
America salutes the charter by which it lives
As fireworks bathe Independence Hall in a Bicentennial burst of glory, Americans feel a reverential glow. The framers' words, painstakingly inscribed on four sheets of parchment, have the aura of the sacred about them. The Ark of America, it is a civic icon that is worshiped, if not always read. But the Constitution has its other, mundane life down at sea level, where wants and ideals crash into one another. Every year the U.S. reinvents the meaning of the document. In this special issue TIME organizes its usual sections under language from the charter and celebrates the continued vibrancy of those words in every aspect of our lives.
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Executive & Legislative
The Presidency: The Administration's authority to take action has been hemmed in by Congress as well as special interests and the media, cramping opportunities for creative national leadership. -- A built-in constitutional conflict over the power to make war has flared into open discord between Capitol Hill and the White House.
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Judiciary
American Scene: "They can't do that," everyone in the U.S. enjoys saying. "It's against my constitutional rights." Profiles of three who believe in doing more than talking about the abstract principle. The Court: The charter means what the high bench says it means. In samples of their views, the Justices speak their minds.
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Commerce
Economy & Business: The Government's power to regulate commerce has grown from a few words in the Constitution to tens of thousands of pages of turgid prose that cost consumers billions of dollars. The Reagan Administration has chopped back the thicket of rules, but now the trend is beginning to turn the other way.
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The Amending Process
Law: Does the framers' handiwork need fixing? Changing the charter has never been easy, but that has not stopped a lot of Americans from trying. A new convention is even possible. People: A sampling of opinion in the U.S. and abroad on the Constitution's strengths and weaknesses, its gifts and its shortcomings.
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The Anniversary
The Convention: How 55 strong-minded "demigods" actually drafted the Constitution in the hot summer of 1787. Living: Across the country, the Bicentennial inspires revelry, pageantry and serious debate. -- What if the Founding Fathers were to face a modern media blitz? Food: Philly is a cradle of American cuisine.
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The Great Freedoms
Press: After a flurry of cases, the number of libel suits drops off, perhaps because so often no one really comes out a winner. Religion: Some powerful critics want to build more flexibility into the wall of strict church-state separation. Cinema: Turn-on porn films wind up in the bedroom; censors still want to turn them off.
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Science & Arts
Art: What style suited the young Republic? Architects, especially, found new answers in old models. Books: The first commentators on the work of the convention are still among the best. Video: Fairness may now be defined by broadcasters instead of Government. Science: America's performance on metrics does not measure up.
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