Our Undemocratic Constitution: Where the Constitution Goes Wrong (And How We the People Can Correct It) [Paperback]

Sanford Levinson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 7, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0195365577 | ISBN-13: 978-0195365573 | Edition: Oxford University Press Pbk

Levinson argues that too many of our Constitution's provisions promote either unjust or ineffective government. Under the existing blueprint, we can neither rid ourselves of incompetent presidents nor assure continuity of government following catastrophic attacks. Less important, perhaps, but certainly problematic, is the appointment of Supreme Court judges for life. Adding insult to injury, the United States Constitution is the most difficult to amend or update of any constitution currently existing in the world today. Democratic debate leaves few stones unturned, but we tend to take our basic constitutional structures for granted. Levinson boldly challenges the American people to undertake a long overdue public discussion on how they might best reform this most hallowed document and construct a constitution adequate to our democratic values.

"Admirably gutsy and unfashionable."
--Michael Kinsley, The New York Times

"Bold, bracingly unromantic, and filled with illuminating insights. He accomplishes an unlikely feat, which is to make a really serious argument for a new constitutional convention, one that is founded squarely on democratic ideals."
--Cass R. Sunstein, The New Republic

"Everyone who cares about how our government works should read this thoughtful book."
--Washington Lawyer

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A lucidly written and compelling work, Our Undemocratic Constitution asks hard questions about the nature of our founding document. Levinson, who is one of the nation's leading constitutional scholars, argues here that much about the Constitution stands in need of dramatic change. This is a timely and important book, and our country would benefit if its ideas provoked real debate."--Elena Kagan, Dean, Harvard Law School

"Levinson believes that the Constitution is fundamentally undemocratic, and that a new constitutional convention is necessary to bring forward a better charter. His critical discussion of the founding document is bold, bracingly unromantic, and filled with illuminating insights. He accomplishes an unlikely feat, which is to make a really serious argument for a new constitutional convention, one that is founded squarely on democratic ideals. Levinson has valuably shown that parts of America's founding document are seriously flawed, and he has demonstrated that both representatives and citizens should treat the document not with "sanctimonious reverence" but as the revisable product of fallible human beings."--Cass R. Sunstein, The New Republic

"Clear and emphatic."--Washington Post Book World

"No one doubts that Al Gore got the most votes in 2000, but almost no one feels that this alone means that the presidency was stolen from him. One who does apparently feel that way is Sanford Levinson, [who is] calling for wholesale revision of our nation's founding document. This is admirably gutsy and unfashionable."--Michael Kinsley, The New York Times Book Review

"Admirably gutsy and unfashionable."--Michael Kinsley, The New York Times Book Review

"Everyone who cares about how our government works should read this thoughtful book."--Washington Lawyer

"Levinson locates the flaws of the system in America's founding document itself--the Constitution. His book is compelling because of [his] breadth of erudition and his willingness to propose solutions to the flaws he perceives."--John O. McGinnis, The Wall Street Journal, Northwestern University School of Law

"Sanford Levinson's irreverent tour reveals the subtle and not-so-subtle ways our Constitution blocks the responsible practice of democratic government. We ignore his critique at our peril."--Bruce Ackerman, Yale Law School

"Sanford Levinson is the most imaginative, innovative and provocative constitutional scholar of our time. His new, sharp critique of the Constitution makes for bracing reading and forces us to confront what we really think of the Constitution. Every American needs to read this book and see if he or she agrees with Levinson that it is necessary to abandon the Framer's work and adopt a fundamentally new system of government. This work cannot be ignored."--Walter Dellinger, O'Melveny & Myers, Former Acting Solicitor General of the United States

"In an ideal world, every citizen would read this book and ponder the profound issues it raises about how to achieve democracy in our republic. As Socratic in spirit, as it is engaging in style, this is a marvelous guide to the pros and cons of democratic reform. Take up its invitation to look freshly at institutions you have taken for granted."--James Fishkin, Stanford University

"Few scholars are in the same league with Professor Sanford Levinson when it comes to raising provocative questions about the Constitution and conventional modes of interpreting its provisions. Whether one agrees or disagrees with his analyses and prescriptions is largely beside the point; what matters is that he forces readers to think about dimensions of constitutional questions that ordinarily go unnoticed. In Our Undemocratic Constitution, Professor Levinson is at his thought-provoking best."--Robert P. George, Princeton University

"A lucidly written and compelling work, Our Undemocratic Constitution asks hard questions about the nature of our founding document. Levinson, who is one of the nation's leading constitutional scholars, argues here that much about the Constitution stands in need of dramatic change. This is a timely and important book, and our country would benefit if its ideas provoked real debate."--Elena Kagan, Dean, Harvard Law School

From the Back Cover

Advance Praise for Our Undemocratic Constitution

"Sanford Levinson's irreverent tour reveals the subtle and not-so-subtle ways our Constitution blocks the responsible practice of democratic government. We ignore his critique at our peril." -- Bruce Ackerman, Yale Law School

"Sanford Levinson is the most imaginative, innovative and provocative constitutional scholar of our time. His new, sharp critique of the Constitution makes for bracing reading and forces us to confront what we really think of the Constitution. Every American needs to read this book and see if he or she agrees with Levinson that it is necessary to abandon the Framer's work and adopt a fundamentally new system of government. This work cannot be ignored." -- Walter Dellinger, O'Melveny & Myers, Former Acting Solicitor General of the United States

"In an ideal world, every citizen would read this book and ponder the profound issues it raises about how to achieve democracy in our republic. As Socratic in spirit, as it is engaging in style, this is a marvelous guide to the pros and cons of democratic reform. Take up its invitation to look freshly at institutions you have taken for granted." -- James Fishkin, Stanford University

"Few scholars are in the same league with Professor Sanford Levinson when it comes to raising provocative questions about the Constitution and conventional modes of interpreting its provisions. Whether one agrees or disagrees with his analyses and prescriptions is largely beside the point; what matters is that he forces readers to think about dimensions of constitutional questions that ordinarily go unnoticed. In Our Undemocratic Constitution, Professor Levinson is at his thought-provoking best." -- Robert P. George, Princeton University

"A lucidly written and compelling work, Our Undemocratic Constitution asks hard questions about the nature of our founding document. Levinson, who is one of the nation's leading constitutional scholars, argues here that much about the Constitution stands in need of dramatic change. This is a timely and important book, and our country would benefit if its ideas provoked real debate." -- Elena Kagan, Dean, Harvard Law School --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; Oxford University Press Pbk edition (March 7, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195365577
• ISBN-13: 978-0195365573
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.7 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #465,964 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sanford Levinson holds the W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr. Centennial Chair in Law at the University of Texas Law School. His is the author of over 200 articles in professional and more popular journals, and has written numerous books.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Promotes a critical perspective on our Constitution and republicanism July 1, 2007

By Michael Heath VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

If you are looking for an unvarnished, unbiased critique of the U.S. Constitution along with some recommended changes and recommendations on how to amend, I highly recommend this book. However, this book has a couple of major flaws that cause me to not support the author's promotion of our holding a constitutional convention in the near future.

What I liked about the book is the conversational tone, the lack of rhetoric and legalese, and while the author Sanford Levinson is a proud liberal, he's extremely fair, unbiased, and respectful to Americans who may not share his political ideology. In fact, the author stays away from reviewing or promoting any amendments that are hot-button social issues like abortion, gay marriage, or current special interest attempts to establish religion.

Instead the author mostly focuses on what he believes are structural weaknesses, like the unequal representation of voters regarding how representation is structured in the Senate or when voting for President or his belief that judges should be term-limited rather than having lifetime appointments. This isn't to say the book is boring by sticking to structural issues, in fact quite the opposite, the book is filled with anecdotes like how senators from smaller states wield enormous power over senators from large states or how campaign strategies could improve if we scrapped the electoral college when voting for President and went to a popular election.

The highest compliment I can pay the author beyond a well-written book is that he changed my position on a number of issues. I embrace republican values and the fact our founders created a constitutional republic rather than a democracy; in fact I was and remain extremely suspicious of pure democracy just like the framing architects (i.e., Madison, Hamilton, et al.). However, the author makes a strong case that more democracy in regards to each voter having equal power would improve the will of the people to influence their government in a manner that doesn't risk our liberties.

I do believe Dr. Levinson's editorial decisions leaves the book flawed in two areas.

Most Americans and the media are woefully ignorant regarding what democracy is relative to what we established in 1787, which was a constitutional republic especially in terms of how liberty is impacted by each form of government. These differences were a primary concern of James Madison's when he evaluated different forms of government and created and successfully introduced the framework of a constitutional republic at the Philadelphia Convention (see Wikipedia page for "constitutional republic" for a pretty good definition and comparison). Indeed, Madison focused strictly on past republics to construct the framework of our government and often dismissed democracies as little better than monarchies.

I believe Dr. Levinson should have included a chapter early in the book that discussed the differences between our republican form of government upon ratification and how its evolved towards a more democratic form of government, and the benefits but also the costs and risks of continued democratization in terms of individual liberty which are much better protected in a republic than a demoracy.

This leads to the second weakness of the book. While writing the book, Dr. Levinson obviously had a lot of concern thrown at him by liberals (pg. 174) regarding the frightening prospect of a constitutional convention in which the results of such a convention severely limited or eradicated many of our rights so unpopular with social conservatives (i.e., equal protection, judicial power to protect our rights from unconstitutional legislation, the 9th amendment, establishment clause, and full incorporation of the 14th amendment).

Dr. Levinson calls for a constitutional convention in hopes his concerns are addressed, while failing to address the fact that some interest groups will certainly leverage this opportunity to meet their political agenda as well that directly contradict the founding ideals of liberty by the framers. In fact he correctly terms this liberal concern "Madisonian" for reasons provided above.

His response to what I believe is a valid concern by liberals is a mere one paragraph that is unsupported by any empirical evidence, it's merely a vague notion held by Dr. Levinson's faith in the democratic process in spite of our continued inability to currently hold meaningful debates free of rhetorical fallacies on other hot-button subjects (e.g., gay marriage, where conservatives refuse to even discuss equal protection rights, instead the Media allows them to get away with opposing gay marriage due to their personal religious beliefs without challenging them on equal protection grounds).

These two flaws are not enough to stop me from recommending this book. The book really helped me to more critically analyze many features of our Constitution that do prevent a more optimal form of government, features I took for granted can not be changed where Levinson effectively challenges our inertia. The book also opened the door to my evaluating the Constitution in a more critical manner, which I greatly appreciate Levinson doing for me.

48 of 60 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Forever Unfinished January 6, 2007

By Douglas Doepke

Format:Hardcover

For better or worse (I think, worse), our educational system tends to paint a semi-religious portrait of the Founding Fathers and their most hallowed offspring-- the Constitution. Questioning the wisdom or perfection of either, I'm afraid, strikes too many Americans as unpatriotic, at best, and treasonous, at worst. For proof, take a look at reviewer Horton's thoroughly ignorant version of this mind-set. It's ironic that those who would honor the nation's ideals by turning our Constitution into Holy Writ, at the same time, do the most to dishonor its democratic spirit.

Levinson's brief text (180 pages, excluding the helpful appendicies), goes beyond the popular depiction to point up those provisions among the six Articles and twenty-seven Amendments whose democratic pedigree are in serious doubt. The Electoral College is probably the best known and most egregious of these. Others, perhaps less glaring, but no less questionable, include distribution of the Senate, life tenure for Supreme Court justices, excessive presidential power, and a half-dozen other dubious provisions. You may agree with some, disagree with others, but all merit second thoughts in light of decades of practical experience.

It's important to point out that Levinson does not take up the hornet's nest topic of Constitutional interpretation. There is no discussion of whether Constitutional provisions establish a Right of Privacy or a Right to Equal Access, or other questions of interpretation that tend to rile partisan emotion. Instead, the focus remains exclusively on those structural aspects requiring no judicial review, as, for example, the clear provision limiting Senatorial representation to two per-state. So readers looking for ammunition for-or-against abortion or in behalf of affirmative action, for example, should look elsewhere. In fact, Levinson's concern goes beyond interpretation to elements of the bedrock itself. (He does, however, flirt with aspects of interpretation concerning the matter of presidential powers.)

The book's tone remains soberly analytical throughout, adopting a middle course between dry detachment, on one hand, and partisan emotion, on the other. And while I think that's the proper course for making his case, it's hardly the type of rhetoric geared to arouse the public into the remedial action that remains a secondary aim of the work-- and may also account for the rather skimpy response on this particular website. Nonetheless, the work serves to remind those who will listen, that, despite much well-meaning veneration, the Constitution remains forever an unfinished document.

28 of 36 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Written In The Spirit of Thomas Jefferson November 4, 2006

By Brian Mulconrey

Format:Hardcover

Great book! I just devoured it in a few hours. Levinson reminds us that at the age of 73, Thomas Jefferson noted that "some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence and treat them like the Ark of the Covenant, too sacred to be touched. They ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more than human, and suppose what they did to be beyond amendment." Jefferson also suggested that we should "think about" revising the constitution about every 19 years to coincide with the arrival of a new generation.

After reading this book I had a palpable sense that our Founding Fathers would be disappointed in our stewardship of their remarkable work. Instead of worshipping the Constitution, we're responsible for maintaining it - during their lifetimes they actively amended the Constitution but they can't do that anymore.

Today, as we ask Supreme Court justices to extract 21st century meaning from 18th century passages, it helps to have courageous visionaries like Sanford Levinson remind us that "We" are still "the People."