"A constitution intended to endure for years to come [is] consequently to be adapted to the various crises of human affairs."—John Marshall "This book will ask readers to set aside their own political loyalties, to look past the current 'values' debates and hot-button issues, to consider this very real possibility: that the failure of the nation to update the Constitution and the structure of government it originally bequeathed to us is at the root of our current political dysfunction."—Larry Sabato The political book of the year, from the acclaimed founder and director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. Larry Sabato has one of the most visionary and fertile political minds in America. Like so many, he is increasingly alarmed at the growing dysfunction and unfairness of our political system. To solve this, to restore the equity for ordinary citizens that is at the core of our democratic society, we must take a radical step—to revise the Constitution, the document that guides our political process, for until some of its outmoded provisions are reformed, we will only have more of the same.
The original framers fully expected the Constitution to be regularly revised by succeeding generations to reflect the country's changing needs; yet, apart from the ten amendments in the Bill of Rights, it has only been amended 17 times in 220 years, and most of those amendments had minor ramifications. Today, partisan gridlock dominates Washington; 17 percent of voters elect a majority of senators; the presidency has assumed unprecedented and unintended powers; while politicians spend as much time campaigning for office as they do governing; and average Americans feel more and more disconnected from the political process so that half or more don't vote in many elections—all of which would have horrified Jefferson and Madison.
A More Perfect Constitution presents twenty three creative and dynamic proposals to reinvigorate American governance at a time when such change is urgently needed. Combining idealism and pragmatism, and with full respect for the original document, Sabatos thought-provoking ideas range from the length of the president's term in office and the number and terms of Supreme Court justices to the structure of Congress, the vagaries of the antiquated Electoral College, and a compelling call for universal national service—all laced through with the history behind each issue and their potential impact on the lives of ordinary people.
Aware that such changes won't happen easily, Sabato urges us nonetheless to engage in the debate and discussion they will surely engender. As we head towards a presidential election year, no book is more relevant or significant than his.
Why I'm Summoning a Second Constitutional Convention
Larry Sabato is one of the few Americans sharp enough to realize there's a problem and savvy enough to identify what's wrong and how to fix it. He's a respected political scientist who knows it's high time for Constitutional repair and ballsy enough to call for a Second Convention.
Generally I agree with Dr. Sabato's list of problems that have been covered in other reviews, such as over-representation of small states in the Senate, gerrymandering, extended election seasons, and so forth. He's been noticing the number of problems increasing and concluded it's best to repair them all at once with a Convention rather than fix each one with amendments. And he's right. I don't think anybody will agree with every solution he proposes, but these are issues for discussion by an enlightened body.
I'm a non-partisan activist, independent thinker, and terrorism prevention activist with a controversial strategy to prevent terrorism (see below). I don't think America can prevent serious terrorism without first reforming the Constitution. To Dr. Sabato's laundry list of problems, let me add some glaring deficiencies with the current Constitution:
(*) it fails to specify citizenship. As a result, practically all native-born Americans are considered "citizens" but the term is practically meaningless. It shouldn't be. Ideally citizenship should be a relation between the person and the state like a contract with specific privileges (police protection, property rights, etc) and responsibilities (military service if summoned, paying taxes, participation in politics at the local level, staying informed about current events, etc). It should be freely chosen (today it's only assumed) and celebrated in a public ceremony. Citizenship also means duties to other citizens, particularly to protect each other in case government becomes tyrannical. It may be that some people decide not to become citizens, but at the very least there should be two categories of persons: citizens and non-citizens.
(*) the foreign policy architecture is absurd. It places too much power in an overburdened president who has this difficult task along with many others (being head of a political party, domestic policy, etc.) The US can not make long term plans because the administration will change every eight years, sometimes after only four. Poor policy results in needless expensive wars such as Vietnam and Iraq. Partisanship distorts foreign policy. America can not cope with complex, thorny, long-term problems such as nuclear proliferation, smuggled nuclear bombs, rising competing nations, global warming and other issues until it finds a superior architecture -- I propose one in my book, but there may be other possibilities.
(*) the federal structure has come unglued. Ideally small states should regulate their respective economies but Washington has usurped much of this task and it does this task BADLY. That this happened is partly a result of the original Constitution which failed to sufficiently specify the rights of state governments. Many evils have resulted because of the breakdown of federalism. I hope a second constitution would clinch states' rights.
(*) privacy versus movement in public. This is a highly contentious issue at the heart of preventing terrorism. I think all movement in public by people and things should be tracked and recorded by government, but there should be strong privacy fences placed around this information. And the right of privacy should be clearly specified in the Constitution.
So, I'm adding my list of deficiencies to Dr. Sabato's, and as a private citizen, I'm summoning a Second Constitutional Convention to meet in Philadelphia at Independence Hall on July 4th, 2010, to craft an alternative constitution, based on the original one, to address these and other problems. Last, I think Dr. Sabato is clearly qualified to fix the Constitution, so I am inviting him to be a delegate, and I hope he decides to attend.
Thomas W. Sulcer
author of "Common Sense II: How to Prevent the Three Types of Terrorism" (Amazon/Kindle)
soon to be free electronically via Google Books and Project Gutenberg
Buy A More Perfect Constitution: 23 Proposals to Revitalize Our Constitution and Make America a Fairer Country by Larry J. Sabato At The Lowest Price!
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