Time For A New Constitution
The present difficulties are unlikely to be resolved under our current form of government. This is because the regime we live under does not and cannot incorporate the only principles that will help with the problems.
Let’s look at the two principles that we need. The first principle is one person, one vote and could be called democracy for short. If your vote counts for more than mine, you are more important than me and I am not your equal in any meaningful sense. This is not recipe for maintaining civility and order. If we want and need civility and order, and we do, then we must have a system that incorporates democracy, one person, one vote.
The second principle that we need is equal treatment under the law, justice for short. So, for example, if you are treated one way because you live in one place and I am treated differently simply because I live somewhere else, we are not being treated equally, but differently This also is not a recipe
for maintaining civility and order. Again, if we want and need civility and order, then we must have a system that incorporates equality under the law.
The current federal system guarantees that both these principles will be disregarded. Let’s start with democracy.
Twice in recent history the winner of the popular vote did not become president because of the Electoral College. Of course, we could abolish the Electoral College by amendment. But no such amendment has a chance to become law because the Constitution provides that an amendment must be proposed by the Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or by a convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures.
The process itself flouts the principle of one person, one vote, giving the Senate and small states the power to block even so much as a vote to consider an amendment abolishing the Electoral College. And, if by some miracle the amendment did go out to the states for ratification, three-fourths of the states would have to approve, giving the small states veto power. No wonder the Electoral College is still with us.
Routine legislation also ignores the one person, one vote principle. This is because every state, big and small, gets two senators, thus guaranteeing that small states have a disproportionate say in what does and does not become law. Is it any wonder that people in red states get more and pay less than people in blue states?
Justice fares no better than democracy. Whether you may smoke marijuana or get an abortion depends upon which you state you happen to live.You will be treated differently in California than you would be in Texas or Alabama. Although this is one country, people are treated like it’s fifty and
that is not just. The state system was unjust when it led to a civil war and it still is today.
A new constitution would incorporate democracy and justice and make this one country for everyone.That would have a salutary effect on the problems confronting us that now seem beyond the reach of realistic solutions. But how do we get there?
When the founders realized that the Articles of Confederation did not work, they replaced them with the current Constitution. How did they do that?
They did not amend the Articles of Confederation. That would have required the unanimous consent of the states. Instead they wrote a new constitution that incorporated its own method of adoption, approval by nine of the thirteen states.
Using that precedent we can write our next constitution and incorporate its own method for becoming the bedrock law of the land. The founders did it and so can we. All we need is the nerve to start and a little hard work. More on that in my next article.
