Framed America's 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance

by Levinson, Sanford

• ISBN13: 9780199890750
• ISBN10: 0199890757
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-04-03
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

In his widely acclaimed volume Our Undemocratic Constitution, Sanford Levinson boldly argued that our Constitution should not be treated with "sanctimonious reverence," but as a badly flawed document deserving revision. Now Levinson takes us deeper, asking what were the original assumptionsunderlying our institutions, and whether we accept those assumptions 225 years later. In Framed, Levinson challenges our belief that the most important features of our constitutions concern what rights they protect. Instead, he focuses on the fundamental procedures of governance such as congressional bicameralism; the selection of the President by the electoral college, or thedimensions of the President's veto power--not to mention the near impossibility of amending the United States Constitution. These seemingly "settled" and "hardwired" structures contribute to the now almost universally recognized "dysfunctionality" of American politics. Levinson argues that we should stop treating the United States Constitution as uniquely exemplifying the American constitutional tradition. We should be aware of the 50 state constitutions, often interestingly different - and perhaps better - than the national model. Many states have updated theirconstitutions by frequent amendment or by complete replacement via state constitutional conventions. California's ungovernable condition has prompted serious calls for a constitutional convention. This constant churn indicates that basic law often reaches the point where it fails and becomesobsolete. Given the experience of so many states, he writes, surely it is reasonable to believe that the U.S. Constitution merits its own updating. Whether we are concerned about making America more genuinely democratic or only about creating a system of government that can more effectively respond to contemporary challenges, we must confront the ways our constitutions, especially the United States Constitution, must be changed in fundamentalways.

Author Biography

Sanford Levinson is Professor of Law and Political Science at the University of Texas-Austin. His books include Our Undemocratic Constitution, Constitutional Faith, and Wrestling with Diversity.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
Of compromises and constitutions	p. 33
What is the point of preambles (in contrast to the rest of a constitution)?	p. 55
How does a "republican form of government" differ from "democracy" (and to which should we be committed today)?	p. 75
Elections and a republican form of government	p. 99
Bicameralism	p. 133
If two opinions are good, is a third opinion (with the power to kill the decisions of the first two opinion-makers) even better?	p. 163
Presidentialism (and gubernatorialism)	p. 175
So what, precisely, does one get, as a constitutional matter, upon being elected president?	p. 191
Executive duration in office, the possibility of impeachment, and the role of the vice president	p. 209
Divided government	p. 229
How "independent" a judiciary do we really want?	p. 245
On the judiciary (and supreme court) as guardian of the constitution	p. 263
Federalism	p. 287
Amendment	p. 331
"Exigencies," "emergencies," and adherence to constitutional norms (and settlements)	p. 347
Conclusion	p. 385
Acknowledgments	p. 395
Notes	p. 401
Index	p. 429
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