Jill Lepore, in her Pulitzer-winning book “We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution,” argues for the urgent need to update the U.S. Constitution, highlighting the barriers that have emerged over time. Lepore, a professor at Harvard, examines the Constitution’s origins and its intended flexibility for amendments.
The U.S. Constitution, made from living materials like parchment and ink, is designed to address enduring and evolving ideas. Although it was crafted to allow for changes without violence, it has become one of the least amended constitutions globally, with only 27 amendments since its inception, despite numerous proposals.
Throughout history, the U.S. Constitution has alternated between amendments and judicial interpretations, affecting political stability and contributing to polarization. Since 1789, about 12,000 amendments have been proposed in Congress, but the rate of proposals decreased notably as polarization increased after 1968.
In contrast to the federal level, state constitutions have been frequently amended, with nearly 7,000 out of over 10,000 proposed amendments ratified since 1789. The complexity of amending the federal Constitution has significant implications, as it retains outdated provisions like the Electoral College and Senate malapportionment.
A turning point occurred in 1971, the last time the Constitution was significantly amended. Yale law professor Robert Bork introduced originalism, a method of constitutional interpretation that insists on adhering to the framers’ original intentions, which gained prominence after his 1987 Supreme Court nomination.
Original Source: news.harvard.edu
