The political book of the year, from the acclaimed founder and
director of the Center for politics at the University of
Virginia."No society can make a perpetual constitution, or
even a perpetual law. The earth belongs to the living generation.”
—Thomas Jefferson
“
A constitution intended to endure for years to come [is] consequently to
be adapted to the various crises of human affairs.”—John
Marshall
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, he argues that 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 seventeen
times in 220 years, and many 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; politicians spend as much time
campaigning for office as they do governing; and average americans feel
more and more disconnected from the political process—half or more
don’t vote in many elections. All of this would have horrified the
likes of Jefferson and Madison.
A More Perfect
Constitution presents 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, Sabato’s 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 the 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 via a mock constitutional convention to be held this fall in
Washington, D.C. As we head towards a presidential election year, no
book is more relevant or significant than this.
"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 “
