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Summary Of How Democratic Is The American Constitution By Robert Dahl

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“Why should we change a constitution that has served and continues to serve us well?” (Dahl 2003). This question was deeply challenged in the book, How Democratic Is the American Constitution? by Robert Dahl. In his book, Robert Dahl analyzes the United States Constitution, revealing its potential antidemocratic aspects, and arguing for greater political equality among citizens. Dahl begins his book by defining his intent, to “suggest changes in the way we think about our constitution” (Dahl 2003). He then goes into explaining the historical contexts of the Constitutional Convention during the summer of 1787. The author initiates a central question; “why should we feel bound today by a document produced more than two centuries age by …show more content…

He explains that the most profound violation of human rights, which was permitted by the constitution, was slavery. This violation was ultimately corrected by the implementation of the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments. Dahl additionally references to the sixteenth, seventeenth, nineteenth, and twenty-fourth amendments, demonstrating the point that the democratic revolution continued to make changes to the constitution by eliminating undemocratic features. Formal amendments weren’t the only way to make changes to the constitution; Dahl argues that alterations to political practices and institutions also made a significant …show more content…

According to Article II, Section I of the Constitution, the number of electors in each state will be “equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the state may be entitled in the congress.” Every state has 2 senators (an equal number), which means that states with lower population size are represented the same as states with higher population numbers. Robert Dahl explains this unequal representation as “a situation in which your vote for your representative is counted as one while the vote of a friend in a neighboring town is counted as seventeen” (Dahl 2003). Unequal representation is a “violation” of democracy, completely discounting political equality among all citizens. The author argues that the Electoral College contains additional inherent problems, for example, the fact that the winner of popular votes may not be chosen for President unless they win the electoral votes. He recommends switching our current system to a direct election from the people, thus the popular vote wins. The issue of electoral reform is a continuous debate, and the author strongly encourages public discussion on the

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Holton addressed were all valid reasons to support his argument that the unruly Americans led to the origins of the Constitution. The strongest argument made by Mr. Holton was the transgressions that the Founding Fathers laid at the feet of the thirteen state legislatures. He stated that the most glaringly representative had shown excessive indulgence to debtors and taxpayers, in which the state legislature had refused to force farmers to pay what they owed (page 92). These policies adopted by the state legislatures in the 1780s proved that ordinary Americans were not entirely capable of ruling themselves (page 96). “Honesty Is the Best Policy” (1786) “Curtis” written by an anonymous author that reads as if it was written by one of the Founding Fathers’.

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The Summer of 1787 was written by David O. Stewart as a historical, non-fiction recount of the events leading to the Constitutions adoption hundreds of years ago. David O. Stewart is extremely qualified to put together such a book. Mr. Stewart is a prolific author in matters of politics and history. In addition, Mr. Stewart studied law at Yale, a highly praised institution. From his studies in modern law to reading all 500 pages of James Madison’s notes from the constitutional convention, Mr. Stewart has the motivation and intelligence to effectively narrate the time before the constitutions implementation.

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In William Brennan’s view on the American Constitution he focused on human dignity to determine his interpretation. As he states in his essay, “But we are an aspiring people, a people with faith in progress. Our amended Constitution is the lodestar for our aspirations. Like every text worth reading, it is not crystalline.” (Brennan).

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Young in his essay “The Pressure of the People on the Framers of the Constitution,” have argued that the accommodations for the people to be involved in the government written in the Constitution were only established because the authors felt pressured by popular opinion, not because they felt that was the way the government should operate. Young argues that , “To last it[the Constitution] had to conform to the “genius” of the American people.” The assumption that the delegates who established the Constitution were “forced” to give common citizens a voice in the new government can be proven wrong when examining John Rakove’s quote. “Decisions on other provisions also worked to remove formal barriers against election to the legislature. Instead of requiring a congressman to be “resident” in his state for a fixed period of years, the convention agreed that he need only be an “inhabitant” of the state at the time of election.”

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Versteeg brings up great discussion points in this article. For example the constitutions old age, its rigidity, its brevity, and its catalog of rights. America has used the some constitution for 226 years as opposed to foreign constitutions that, according to Versteeg and others, last on average nineteen years. Next Versteeg addresses the inflexibility of the Constitution. “the U.S Constitution is one of the most inflexible in the world, surpassed only by the constitutions of Japan, Denmark, and Paraguay”(Versteeg, Paragraph 4).

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Who Killed the Constitution is an informative book that explains how different legislature has destroyed the Constitution. The authors, Thomas E. Woods, Jr., and Kevin R.C. Gutzman, explain how every single piece of legislation that has become a law infracts the rights directly given to the people by the Constitution. Thomas E. Woods, Jr., has his own political analysis show, and he has written twelve books that criticize and ridicule the United States government (Woods, par. 2). Kevin R.C. Gutzman is a professor of history at Western Connecticut State University, and he has written four books collectively (Gutzman, par.

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The checks and balances that the founders desired between the Senate and the House would be reflected in the competing political parties within the House. 2. Sanford Levinson argues that the Electoral College is a “dreadful system of presidential selection” that is beyond defending. Using Madison’s Notes and the Federalist Papers, explain the A) purposes of the Electoral College (why they chose this method over others) and B) whether or not Publius’s defense applies to current debates over maintaining or eliminating the Electoral

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Most Americans view the Constitution as a sacred document that created the world’s greatest democracy but, in actuality, the American Constitution has many highly undemocratic aspects that prove this judgement to be mistaken. This is brought to light in Dahl’s analysis of the American Constitution.

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This paper will argue that the crafters of the Constitution of 1787 needed to contend with multiple complicated issues. The crafters of the 1787 Constitution were faced with a mass of complex issues. Their challenge was not only to create a document that reflected the ideals of democracy and governance, but also to devise a system that could endure the test of time and adapt to future challenges. An example of

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The late 17th century was a time of radical transformations and floods of independence. As the United States developed, a government that suited the needs of its citizens was imperative for the success and flourish of the new nation. The Constitution surfaced as a document to placate those dissatisfied by the distasteful Articles of Confederation. The numerous conciliations and adaptations composing the document have led to the term “bundle of compromises.” The ever-changing nature of the Constitution has resulted in it being considered a “living document” in the present day.

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Federalist #10, written by James Madison, is a text that offers an alternative approach to America's democratic governmental institutions. Presenting the downfalls of American democracy, such as unequal representation, Madison advocates for a governmental structure that appeals to a wider variety of constituents. Conversely, Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville praises American democracy in its current form. Although Tocqueville concedes that American democracy is fallible, it presents American government as an exemplary model for countries ruled by aristocracies. Madison and Tocqueville present contradicting opinions concerning the way in which democracy often allows majority interests to influence the everyday workings of government.

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The Constitution—the foundation of the American government—has been quintessential for the lives of the American people for over 200 years. Without this document America today would not have basic human rights, such as those stated in the Bill of Rights, which includes freedom of speech and religion. To some, the Constitution was an embodiment of the American Revolution, yet others believe that it was a betrayal of the Revolution. I personally believe that the Constitution did betray the Revolution because it did not live up to the ideals of the Revolution, and the views of the Anti-Federalists most closely embodied the “Spirit of ‘76.” During the midst of the American Revolution, authors and politicians of important documents, pamphlets, and slogans spread the basis for Revolutionary ideals and defined what is known as the “Spirit of ‘76”.

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A living Constitution is one that progresses, transforms throughout stages, and acclimates to recent occurrences, short of being legally revised. It can be revised, but the revision method is somewhat challenging. The highly significant revisions were affixed to the Constitution nearly one hundred years or so ago, and in the time of the Civil War, and subsequently many of the revisions have dealt with fairly inconsequential topics. We have seen many changes take place over the years, changing economy, social adjustments, in directions that one couldn’t have predicted when the Constitution was written.

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In the United States, people always talk about freedom and equality. Especially they want elections could be more democratic. In American Democracy in Peril, Hudson’s main argument regarding chapter five “Election Without the People’s Voice,” is if elections want to be democratic, they must meet three essential criteria, which are to provide equal representation of all citizens, to be mechanisms for deliberation about public policy issues, and to control what government does. Unfortunately, those points that Hudson mentions are what American elections do not have. American elections do not provide equal representation to everyone in the country.

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