Summary Of Secrets Of Successful Constitution Making By Richard Brookhiser

A constitution, by any definition, is a set of guide lines put in place for the citizens and governments of a country. The United States Constitution provides the basic rules and principles of how the country is managed. Without any sort of constitution United States citizens would be in an utter state of complete chaos due to a lack of government. With its new interpretations, and constant state of change, this “living document” was, and continues to be, an essential part of our countries founding. One article tells of the detailed hardships our Founding Fathers endured while creating such an important document. The next explores the woman’s role in the era of the constitution. Finally, the last article is a side by side comparison of our

Richard Brookhiser wrote a column for the New York Observer, and also free-lanced for a number of magazines including The New Yorker, Cosmopolitan, Commentary and Vanity Fair. Brookhiser’s informative article "Secrets Of Successful Constitution Making,” highlights the major reasons the constitution was created. According to Brookhiser, the United States was in search of new set of rules due to the constant miscommunications and lack of governmental control previously casted by the existing Articles of Confederation. The author’s article goes on to speak of the hardships federalists faced when attempting the ratification of the constitution. Brookhier states, “the Constitution was being debated in state conventions elected by the people for the sole purpose of ratifying the document”(Brookhier, paragraph 7). With problems arising such as too much government power,

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). The inflexibility of the constitution was purposeful due to the outrageous amendment procedure. Though the constitution is not flexible, it has changed over time though interpretation of the Supreme Court. “as President Woodrow Wilson observed, the U.S Supreme Court is like a ‘constitutional convention in continuous session’”(Versteeg, paragraph 6). Versteeg then rights on the shortness of the United States constitution. Compared to other nations our constitution is a mere 7,762 words. According to Versteeg the average constitution is 21,960 words. Foreign constitutions ultimately deal with more public issues than our constitution. The United States