The US Constitution.

One of the core fundamentals of American Society and a 200 plus year-old legal binding contract of the government and the people it serves.

Of course that contract was not perfect from the beginning and had to be modified and amended to improve the lives of Americans while also guaranteeing their freedoms.

Amended to define our freedoms (1st Amendment)

Amended to abolish slavery (13th Amendment)

Amended to prevent a dictatorship (22nd Amendment)

Amended to bring slight clarification to a still confused election system (12th Amendment)

Yes, the last amendment was ratified only 26 years ago (after a 200 year wait) but last amendment of any importance was in 1971 with the  26th Amendment banning the denial of voting rights of anybody over the age of 18.

But in a ever more complex and unequal world, the constitution is showing its age and inflexibility.

Amendments to the US constitution are rare and tough to come by. Remember, the constitution is almost 230 years old there has only been 27 amendments or “improvements” to it. That includes an amendment (21st) to repeal a previous amendment (18th).

Us Americans take pride in rarely changing the constitution as we see this as a sign of stability compared to other nations like France who has had 15 different constitutions since the French Revolution.

I can agree that at this point any idea of a brand new American constitution is a hyperbole and will never happen. Moreover, it will place the whole county (and the world for that matter) into peril. In this case, it’s better to go with the “status quo” in a way.

Now comes to the debate between how the constitution should be interpreted and amended. That’s the main debate in constitutional law classes on law school campuses and courthouses across America. On one side, people who think the constitution is a “living document” and should be able to adapt to modern situations through changing interpretations of the original laws. In contrast, there are people who believe in the strict following of the original meaning of the constitution and the only way to change the constitution through the very tedious process of amendments.

Sidenote: There are a lot resources on the matter for deeper research (Originalism vs Living Constitution).

I was not a law student so my stance on the matter is basically founded on my civics class in high school, observations of political and legal activity and the internet.

I am more liberal than conservative. I think the law should be flexible to adapt to an ever changing world. However, I can be a stickler for following established procedure.

Because of that duality, I have a foot in both camps of legal thinking right now and shall not be moved. I want the courts to understand that the thinking of the founding fathers was immense in foresight however even they couldn’t see too deep into the future of the American Republic. Remember, a decent number of the founding fathers were slave owners while another group was willing to tolerate the practice at the time to ensure all 13 Colonies would come together in independence.

Even though the amendment process is daunting, once the amendment is ratified it is very tough to repeal. It only happened once because Americans love their liquor and they realized that after banning it.

I want to place my 2 cents on the need to amend the constitution of these United States of America.

Below are my suggestions for the next 4 or so amendments needed for further progressing our nation into a more complex and globalized world:

28th Amendment – Designation of term limits on persons in Congress

29th Amendment – Further formalization of the rights of the residents of Washington DC

30th Amendment – Modernization of the electoral college

31st Amendment – Formalization of Campaign Finance for federal elections

The thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments were called the Reconstruction or War Amendments because they passed during the five years following the Civil War.

Well, I will call these amendments the Progressive Amendments because they will represent the growth, evolution and progression of the US Democratic Republic.

I will write about each of my new amendments in the near future and explain why these additions to the US constitution will promote political diversity but also limit the influence of money in politics.