Jonah Patel
The US Constitution, the oldest and longest-standing written and codified national constitution, has been criticised for being outdated and detached from modern American society. The Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, and has since been amended 27 times. Despite its promise of freedom, the Constitution excluded Black and Indigenous people, women, and other marginalised groups. It also preserved slavery and denied civil liberties. While it has been amended and improved over time, the Constitution still contains contradictions and has been criticised for not explicitly providing for certain fundamental rights, such as housing, education, and basic economic survival. Additionally, it is nearly impossible to amend, with only 18 amendments in 235 years, and contains features that are outdated, such as the right to keep and bear arms, and the lack of effective gun control laws. The Constitution's design, which separates authority across various branches of government, has led to an ineffective and immobilised Congress that is incapable of taking effective action.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Designed for a simple agrarian society | 4 million people, 700,000 of whom were slaves, and 95% farmers |
| Designed for a world unlike our own | Primitive world |
| Inability to craft effective policy responses | Polarization |
| Wired to be ineffective | Legislators are tied to local jurisdictions and highly responsive to special interests |
| Not wired to solve national problems | Allows parochial legislators to promote their own political welfare |
| Exclusion of marginalized groups | Exclusion of Black and indigenous people, women, and other marginalized groups |
| Preservation of slavery | Provided for the return of people who had escaped from slavery |
| Lack of explicit fundamental economic rights | No explicit right to housing, education, or basic economic survival |
| Difficulty in amending the Constitution | Only amended 18 times in 235 years |
| Lack of popularity | Voters under 50 are more than twice as likely to say that the U.S. Constitution is not a relevant document today |
| Inadequate rights guaranteed | Guarantees relatively few rights compared to other countries |
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What You'll Learn
- The US Constitution is the world's longest surviving written charter of government
- It was designed for a simple agrarian society of just four million people
- It has been criticised for preserving and propping up slavery
- It is difficult to amend and has only been amended 18-27 times in 234-235 years
- Congress is ineffective because it is wired to be that way by the Constitution
The US Constitution is the world's longest surviving written charter of government
The US Constitution, signed on September 17, 1787, is the world's longest surviving written charter of government. It is also one of the oldest constitutions still in use, having been operational since 1789. The US Constitution has been amended 27 times since its inception, with the first ten amendments collectively known as the Bill of Rights. These amendments have helped to shape and improve the Constitution over time, addressing issues related to individual liberties, civil rights, federal authority, and government processes.
Despite its longevity and adaptability, some critics argue that the US Constitution is outdated and ill-suited for modern times. One criticism is that the Constitution was crafted for a much smaller and simpler agrarian society, with a primary focus on avoiding the "tyranny of the majority." As a result, the Constitution separates authority across different branches of government and includes numerous veto points, making coherent policy action challenging. This complexity has led to a situation where Congress, which is highly influenced by local jurisdictions and special interests, struggles to craft effective policies that address the nation's problems.
Another criticism is that the Constitution, in its original form, excluded and denied the basic human rights of women, indigenous people, and racial minorities, particularly Black individuals. While amendments and societal changes have expanded rights and protections for these groups, the Constitution still falls short in explicitly guaranteeing certain fundamental economic and social rights.
Furthermore, the US Constitution is notoriously difficult to amend, which has contributed to the persistence of undemocratic institutions and democratic backsliding in the country. However, some argue that the very difficulty of amending the Constitution is a feature, not a bug, as it helps preserve the freedoms and rights it guarantees.
Despite its flaws and outdated features, the US Constitution remains a foundational document that has guided generations of Americans toward a "more perfect Union." It has empowered people to make decisions about their lives, constrained government power, and provided a framework for advancing rights and ideals.
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It was designed for a simple agrarian society of just four million people
The US Constitution, signed on September 17, 1787, was designed for a simple agrarian society of just four million people. Of the free population, 95% were farmers. The founders were mainly concerned with avoiding the "tyranny of the majority" and purposely designed a complex government that couldn't do much. They separated authority across various branches, filling them with veto points that made coherent policy action difficult.
The Constitution has endured and evolved over the last 234 years, but it has been amended only 27 times, and the amendments themselves are criticised as being a mess. The Constitution was designed for a much smaller and less complex nation, and it is argued that it is no longer fit for purpose.
The US Constitution is the oldest and longest-standing written and codified national constitution in force in the world. It is admired for its ideals, but it is also criticised for being outdated and detached from the realities of modern American society. It is argued that the Constitution has not kept pace with social progress and no longer represents the values of the majority of Americans.
The Constitution was designed to limit government power and protect the rights of the individual. It is based on the notion of "a government of the people, by the people, and for the people". However, it is argued that it falls short in empowering people to make decisions about their own lives, with Congress at the centre of the nation's dysfunction. Congress is seen as an ineffective policymaker, wired to serve the interests of legislators rather than solving national problems in the national interest.
The Constitution's design, with its separation of powers and complex amendment procedures, makes it difficult to adapt to changing circumstances. It is argued that a more moderate brand of politics could help Congress become a more effective policymaker, but the underlying structure of the Constitution may be to blame for its inadequacies.
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It has been criticised for preserving and propping up slavery
The US Constitution has been criticised for preserving and propping up slavery. The authors of the Constitution left out a vital distinction between person and property, and in doing so, they protected one of history's most oppressive institutions. The Constitution's famous preamble, which establishes "justice" and ensures "domestic tranquility" for the people, is undermined by this absence.
The word "slave" does not appear in the Constitution, as the framers consciously avoided the word, recognising that it would sully the document. Nevertheless, slavery received important protections in the Constitution. The Fugitive Slave Clause, or Article IV, Section 2, Clause 2, states that:
> "No person held to service or labour in one state, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labour, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labour may be due."
This clause implicates and involves the federal government and its officers in the active protection of people as property. The Slave Trade Clause, or Article 1, Section 9, Clause 1, is another provision in the original Constitution related to slavery, though it also does not use the word "slave". This clause prohibited the federal government from limiting the importation of "persons" (understood at the time to mean primarily enslaved African persons) where existing state governments allowed it, until 20 years after the Constitution took effect. This was a compromise between Southern states, where slavery was pivotal to the economy, and states where abolition had been accomplished or was contemplated.
The Constitution also included the notorious three-fifths clause, which counted three-fifths of a state's slave population in apportioning representation, giving the South extra representation in the House of Representatives and extra votes in the Electoral College.
Harvard Law Professor Alan Jenkins notes that the Constitution was fundamentally flawed in preserving and propping up slavery, and for excluding women, non-white people, indigenous people, and non-property owners from the definition of "the people". Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to sit on the Supreme Court, agreed, stating that the framers consented to a document that laid a foundation for tragic events to follow.
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It is difficult to amend and has only been amended 18-27 times in 234-235 years
The United States Constitution, which came into effect in 1789, is the oldest and longest-standing written and codified national constitution in the world. It has been amended only 27 times in 234-235 years. The first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were added at the same time, so this was a single amendment process.
The US Constitution is considered difficult to amend. Sanford Levinson wrote in 2006 that it has been harder to amend than any other constitution in the world since the fall of Yugoslavia. Levitsky and Ziblatt argue that this difficulty helps explain why the US has retained many undemocratic institutions that other democracies have reformed.
Harvard Law Professor Alan Jenkins agrees with the framers' decision to make the Constitution challenging to change. He acknowledges that the Constitution was both brilliant and highly flawed, and that it has been amended and improved over time.
The Constitution was designed to empower people to make decisions about their lives, establishing "a government of the people, by the people, and for the people". It limits government power and protects individual rights. It has endured and evolved over the years, with Americans fighting to realise its guarantee of liberty and equal justice.
Despite its longevity, the Constitution has faced criticism for its lack of relevance in modern times. Voters under 50 are more likely than older voters to view the Constitution as irrelevant today. Trust in the presidency, Congress, and the Supreme Court—institutions established by the Constitution—has also declined.
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Congress is ineffective because it is wired to be that way by the Constitution
The U.S. Constitution, the oldest and longest-standing written and codified national constitution in force, has been criticised for its shortcomings and inability to adapt to the modern world. It has been described as "outdated and detached from the realities of modern American society".
Congress, in particular, has been called out for its ineffectiveness in policymaking, which is a result of its structure and function as outlined in the Constitution. The Constitution was designed to limit the power of the government and protect the rights and liberties of the people, which has resulted in a complex system of checks and balances across the various branches of government. While this was intended to prevent tyranny of the majority, it has also made coherent policy action difficult and allowed for the pursuit of individual political interests.
The Constitution's design ensures that legislators are tied to their local jurisdictions and responsive to special interests, rather than being equipped to address national problems in the national interest. This has resulted in Congress being ineffective and immobilised, with an inability to take effective action on behalf of the nation. The structure of Congress, as outlined in the Constitution, has led to a polarised body that struggles to craft effective policy responses to the nation's problems.
Furthermore, the Constitution's focus on state and local policies over federal policy has contributed to Congress's ineffectiveness. The founders crafted a government for a much smaller and simpler agrarian society, and the needs of the country have changed drastically since then. The Constitution's complexity and the difficulty in amending it have also been cited as reasons for its outdated nature and Congress's resulting dysfunction.
While the Constitution has been amended several times to address some of these issues, there is a growing sentiment that more significant changes are needed to adapt to the modern world and ensure effective governance.
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Frequently asked questions
The US Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America, comprising seven articles that delineate the frame of the federal government. The first three articles embody the doctrine of the separation of powers, dividing the federal government into three branches: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial.
The US Constitution has been criticised for being outdated and detached from the realities of modern American society. It has also been criticised for preserving and propping up slavery, excluding women and minorities, and not providing for basic economic rights. Additionally, it is considered difficult to amend.
The US Constitution has been defended as providing a path for Americans to advance rights and ideals, guaranteeing free speech, and empowering people to make decisions about their own lives. It is also celebrated for being the oldest and longest-standing written and codified national constitution in force in the world.
Suggested improvements to the US Constitution include seeking small, low-risk constitutional changes, moving Congress to the periphery of the policymaking process, and explicitly providing for fundamental economic rights.
