A More Perfect Constitution: 23 Proposals to Revitalize Our Constitution and Make America a Fairer Country"No society can make a perpetual constitution, or even a perpetual law. The earth belongs to the living generation."—Thomas Jefferson "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 The political book of the year, from the acclaimed founder and director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. 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, 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. A More Perfect Constitution presents twenty three 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 their potential impact on the lives of ordinary people. |
Contents
CHAPTER ONE CREATING A CAPITAL CONGRESS | 19 |
CHAPTER TWO PERFECTING THE PRESIDENCY | 76 |
SUPREME | 107 |
Copyright | |
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