Larry J. Sabato - A More Perfect Constitution: 23 Proposals to Revitalize Our Constitution and Make America a Fairer Country

As Sabato navigates through his literary renovation of the three branches of government, the reader cant help but hold out hope that maybe someday, some of these sweeping changes could actually bring the nations government out of its intellectual quagmire... his lively, conversational tone and compelling examples make the reader a more than willing student for this updated civics lesson.

The Hill

Its tempting to blame the nations problems on one or two people in particular, or to make the blame far too general, attaching it, say, to the collective gullibility of half of the voting public. Does anyone else suspect that something more intrinsic might be wrong? One person who does is the political pundit Larry J. Sabato, [whose] book calls for a new federal Constitutional Convention. Here is optimism lightly tempered by realism, but optimism nonetheless.

American Scholar

Sabato, founder of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, ventures bravely into the controversial waters of constitutional reform... While theres room for skepticism and unintended consequences in some of his suggestions, Sabato makes strong, cogent arguments.

Publishers Weekly

Sabato takes on the most sacred of American political cows, the U.S. Constitution... [His] thought-provoking book provides insights for an important debate.

Booklist

It would give me singular pleasure to see [this principle] first announced to the world in a law of the U. States, and always kept in view as a salutary restraint on living generations from unjust or unnecessary burdens on their successors.

James Madison, responding to Jeffersons

letter from New York, February 4, 1790

The warmest friends to and the best supporters of the Constitution, do not contend that it is free from imperfections; but these were not to be avoided, and they are convinced if evils are likely to flow from them, that the remedy must come thereafter; for in the present moment, it is not to be obtained. And as there is a Constitutional door open for it, I think the people (for it is with them to judge) can as they will have the advantage of experience on their side, decide with as much propriety on the alterations and amendments which shall be found necessary, as ourselves; I do not think we are more inspired, have more wisdom, or possess more virtue, than those who will come after us.

George Washington, in a letter to Bushrod

Washington, November 9, 1787

That government is, or ought to be, instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation, or community; of all the various modes and forms of government, that is best which is capable of producing the greatest degree of happiness and safety... and, when any government shall be found inadequate or contrary to these purposes, a majority of the community has an indubitable, inalienable, and indefeasible right to reform, alter, or abolish it, in such manner as shall be judged most conducive to the public weal.

George Mason, in Article One of Virginias

original Constitution, 1776

I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.

Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to James Madison,

January 30, 1787

A More Perfect Constitution

WHY THE CONSTITUTION MUST BE REVISED:

IDEAS TO INSPIRE A NEW GENERATION

Larry J. Sabato

To the memory of Thomas Jefferson,
who wrote to James Madison on January 30, 1787:
I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing,
and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.

Copyright 2007, 2008 by Larry J. Sabato

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address Walker & Company, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010.

Published by Walker Publishing Company, Inc., New York

Distributed to the trade by Macmillan

An excerpt of chapter 4 appeared as an essay by Larry J. Sabato in the Virginia Quarterly Review 82:3 (Summer 2006): 14961. Some of the section The Founding of a College in chapter 4 is adapted from The Report of the National Symposium on Presidential Selection (Charlottesville,VA: University of Virginia Center for Governmental Studies, 2001), pp. 3951.

Figure credits1.1: http://www.pollingreport.com/CongJob1.htm. 4.1: data from 196896, Rhodes Cook, United States Presidential Primary Elections, 19681996: A Handbook of Election Statistics (Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2000), p. 10; data from 2000 and 2004, Richard E. Berg-Andersson, The Green Papers, http://www.thegreenpapers.com; data from 2008 compiled by Larry J. Sabato.

All papers used by Walker & Company are natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in well-managed forests. The manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR.

eISBN: 9780802777560

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First published by Walker & Company in 2007
This paperback edition published in 2008

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CONTENTS

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Preamble to the United States Constitution

MOST OF US grew up memorizing and venerating these words. Their historic import is obvious. A great nation came into being once they were ratified. Each phrase is clear, the meaning eternal. These great American goals of Union, Justice, Tranquility, Defense,Welfare, and Liberty have also been revised and extended in law and practice by each succeeding generation. Yet this is not true for critical parts of the Constitution itself, whose basic structures and systems have largely remained untouched. We need to apply the ageless values contained in the Preamble to the new demands of a very different country than the one that existed in the foundersworld. I have written this book to begin a discussion with you about why and how we must do so, and about the potent possibilities of such action.

Americans care deeply about fairness and equity, for themselves and for others, and we have made impressive strides since the founding of the Republic. Yet that historic progress, which has affected our daily lives for the better, is being eroded and impeded by archaic parts of the original United States Constitution, and the situation is getting worse with each passing year. The Constitution is failing America in some vital ways. The time is now to begin a generational process of moderate, well-considered change to remedy these inequalities. The time is now to form a more perfect Union by creating a more perfect Constitution. Beginning with local, state, and national mock conventions, and Internet-assisted debate, we can start the dialogue of reform.

I want to begin by asking you some important questions.

Do you believe that Congress is often inadequate as a representative body, that your views on the pressing issues of our timefrom health care to the environment to tax fairnessfind insufficient voice in the legislature while well-connected lobbyists and moneyed groups grab all the goodies they want, year after year? Most Americans do. There are various causes, but one important one is the Constitution, which does little to prevent core abuses such as partisan redistricting and the stacked deck of incumbencythe ills that can lead Congress, whichever party is in control, to ignore your interests while serving special interests. The permanent, dominant elitesthe congressmen-for-life, the senators who are never seriously challenged for reelection, the lifetime judges who are often out of touch with changing popular sentiments, and the well-heeled lobbyists who frequently protect the haves at the expense of the have-notshave skillfully used constitutional shortfall and silence to build a system that delivers for themselves, not average citizens. They have been aided by the Constitutions dictates for the Senate (two senators per state, regardless of size), a body now so unrepresentative of Americas population that a mere 17 percent of the voters install a majority of senators. No one wants a tyranny of the majority, where 51 percent of the voters run roughshod over the rights of the other 49 percent, but we have now achieved the opposite, equally distasteful extreme, a tyranny of a small minority. Unquestionably, this structural reality impedes progress.