Our Undemocratic Constitution: Where the Constitution Goes Wrong (and How We the People Can Correct It)

by Sanford Levinson

Book Overview

The Constitution is one of the most revered documents in American politics. Yet this is a document that regularly places in the White House candidates who did not in fact get a majority of the popular vote. It gives Wyoming the same number of votes as California, which has seventy times the
population of the Cowboy State. And it offers the President the power to overrule both houses of Congress on legislation he disagrees with on political grounds...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195307518
• ISBN13: 9780195307511
• Release Date: September 2006
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 248 Pages
• Weight: 1.12 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Why we need a Second Constitutional Convention

Sanford Levinson has written an excellent essay which suggests that a Second Constitutional Convention is required to restore American democracy. He is one of the few Americans smart enough to help craft a new document based on the current one. On my authority as a private citizen, I have summoned a convention to convene in Philadelphia in Independence Hall beginning July 4th, 2009, and I've invited Dr. Levinson to be a delegate, but as of this writing, he has failed to respond to my invitation. Please post a comment below urging him to reconsider. What follows is my current list of flaws with the current Constitution -- many pointed out initially by Dr. Levinson: (1) Awkward transition between presidents; from election day to the inauguration of the next president, there are effectively two presidents -- one in office, one awaiting office, and this allows confusion. (2) Under-representation of voters from populous states in the Senate. (3) DC voters lack representation. (4) Supreme Court has become a politicized institution. This dates back to Marshall's Marbury v. Madison decision in which the Court usurped authority, not granted by the Constitution, to strike down laws if it found them "against the constitution". The Framers never intended for the judiciary to have such sweeping power. The Supreme Court, over time, has failed to protect the federal structure (with state governments having the most economic regulatory authority) and instead promoted power shifting to Washington. The Supreme Court has made highly political choices, such as Roe v. Wade, which should have been left to individual state governments or national lawmakers. (5) Original Constitution fails to include a right of privacy. (6) Possibility of a military dictatorship should a significant terrorist attack happen such as a catastrophic attack on Congress. (7) The Electoral college system is cumbersome and confusing. (8) Popular election of senators. Here's a situation in which the original constitution was right in my view (letting state governments choose Senators) but it was changed by an amendment. It's important for state governments to choose Senators to give state governments a voice in the national government. (9) Inability to get rid of an incompetent president quickly. Examples: Wilson (suffered from an economic malady); possibly Roosevelt in last years in office; Bush (clearly incompetent choice to attack Iraq). (10) Life tenure for unelected Supreme Court judges. 15 or 18 year term limits would be better in my view. (11) The Ninth amendment has been seriously ignored. Many of these flaws have been cited by other constitutional scholars and there is fairly widespread agreement that they're serious and need fixing. British constitutional scholar Adam Tomkins identifies a prime weakness in America's constitution -- that the prime role of checking government is supposedly handled by the judiciary, and not the legislature. He thinks the judiciary is ill-sui

Thought provoking...

Eveyone, especially those who live in densely populated states, should read this book. The author does a great job of getting his readers to think about the Constitution rather than just accepting it as the best way to run a democracy.

Forever Unfinished

For better or worse (I think, worse), our educational system tends to paint a semi-religious portrait of the Founding Fathers and their most hallowed offspring-- the Constitution. Questioning the wisdom or perfection of either, I'm afraid, strikes too many Americans as unpatriotic, at best, and treasonous, at worst. For proof, take a look at reviewer Horton's thoroughly ignorant version of this mind-set. It's ironic that those who would honor the nation's ideals by turning our Constitution into Holy Writ, at the same time, do the most to dishonor its democratic spirit. Levinson's brief text (180 pages, excluding the helpful appendicies), goes beyond the popular depiction to point up those provisions among the six Articles and twenty-seven Amendments whose democratic pedigree are in serious doubt. The Electoral College is probably the best known and most egregious of these. Others, perhaps less glaring, but no less questionable, include distribution of the Senate, life tenure for Supreme Court justices, excessive presidential power, and a half-dozen other dubious provisions. You may agree with some, disagree with others, but all merit second thoughts in light of decades of practical experience. It's important to point out that Levinson does not take up the hornet's nest topic of Constitutional interpretation. There is no discussion of whether Constitutional provisions establish a Right of Privacy or a Right to Equal Access, or other questions of interpretation that tend to rile partisan emotion. Instead, the focus remains exclusively on those structural aspects requiring no judicial review, as, for example, the clear provision limiting Senatorial representation to two per-state. So readers looking for ammunition for-or-against abortion or in behalf of affirmative action, for example, should look elsewhere. In fact, Levinson's concern goes beyond interpretation to elements of the bedrock itself. (He does, however, flirt with aspects of interpretation concerning the matter of presidential powers.) The book's tone remains soberly analytical throughout, adopting a middle course between dry detachment, on one hand, and partisan emotion, on the other. And while I think that's the proper course for making his case, it's hardly the type of rhetoric geared to arouse the public into the remedial action that remains a secondary aim of the work-- and may also account for the rather skimpy response on this particular website. Nonetheless, the work serves to remind those who will listen, that, despite much well-meaning veneration, the Constitution remains forever an unfinished document.

Written In The Spirit of Thomas Jefferson

Great book! I just devoured it in a few hours. Levinson reminds us that at the age of 73, Thomas Jefferson noted that "some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence and treat them like the Ark of the Covenant, too sacred to be touched. They ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more than human, and suppose what they did to be beyond amendment." Jefferson also suggested that we should "think about" revising the constitution about every 19 years to coincide with the arrival of a new generation. After reading this book I had a palpable sense that our Founding Fathers would be disappointed in our stewardship of their remarkable work. Instead of worshipping the Constitution, we're responsible for maintaining it - during their lifetimes they actively amended the Constitution but they can't do that anymore. Today, as we ask Supreme Court justices to extract 21st century meaning from 18th century passages, it helps to have courageous visionaries like Sanford Levinson remind us that "We" are still "the People."