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In this provocative book, one of our most eminent political scientists poses the question, “Why should Americans uphold their constitution?” The vast majority of Americans venerate the Constitution and the democratic principles it embodies, but many also worry that the United States has fallen behind other nations on crucial issues, including economic equality, racial integration, and women’s rights. Robert Dahl explores this vital tension between the Americans’ belief in the legitimacy of their constitution and their belief in the principles of democracy.
Dahl starts with the assumption that the legitimacy of the American Constitution derives solely from its utility as an instrument of democratic governance. Dahl demonstrates that, due to the context in which it was conceived, our constitution came to incorporate significant antidemocratic elements. Because the Framers of the Constitution had no relevant example of a democratic political system on which to model the American government, many defining aspects of our political system were implemented as a result of short-sightedness or last-minute compromise. Dahl highlights those elements of the American system that are most unusual and potentially antidemocratic: the federal system, the bicameral legislature, judicial review, presidentialism, and the electoral college system.
The political system that emerged from the world’s first great democratic experiment is unique—no other well-established democracy has copied it. How does the American constitutional system function in comparison to other democratic systems? How could our political system be altered to achieve more democratic ends? To what extent did the Framers of the Constitution build features into our political system that militate against significant democratic reform?
Refusing to accept the status of the American Constitution as a sacred text, Dahl challenges us all to think critically about the origins of our political system and to consider the opportunities for creating a more democratic society.
- Sales Rank: #11955 in Books
- Brand: Yale University Press
- Published on: 2003-12-01
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 7.64" h x .59" w x 5.04" l, .41 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 240 pages
- Yale University Press
From Publishers Weekly
In this slim, accessible volume, Yale political science professor emeritus Dahl (On Democracy) takes a critical look at our Constitution and why we continue to uphold it, though it is "a document produced more than two centuries ago by a group of fifty-five mortal men, actually signed by only thirty-nine, and adopted in only thirteen states." As an instrument for truly democratic government, Dahl argues, it fails. With insufficient models to guide them and a distrust of unfettered democracy, the Framers allowed several "undemocratic elements" in: slavery was accepted and suffrage effectively limited to white men. But Dahl saves his most potent criticism for two provisions that have remained unchanged: the electoral college and the Senate, both of which tie votes to geography rather than population, thereby skewing political power toward coalitions of smaller states whose interests may not necessarily coincide with the nation's as a whole. And as the 2000 presidential election illustrated, the electoral college can frustrate the will of the majority. Perhaps the most enlightening aspect of Dahl's critique is his comparison of our system with those of other stable democracies. In his view, countries with proportional representation which typically results in multi-party states and coalition governments offer a purer form of democratic equality, while our structure frequently supports, for example, policies beneficial to the most powerful lobbyists, rather than the greatest number of citizens. This book originated as a series of lectures at Yale and, as a result, the argument is abbreviated and clear. While Dahl concedes that he has occasionally oversimplified, his intention is not to write a political treatise but to encourage American citizens to change, if not the Constitution, then at least "the way we think about it" and at that, he should have success.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Review
"Robert A. Dahl . . . is about as covered in honors as a scholar can be. . . . He knows what he is talking about. And he thinks that the Constitution has something the matter with it."―Hendrik Hertzberg, New Yorker
"Some may find it a startling question, as most Americans have an unwavering faith in the Constitution and its principles. But the author argues that we should not be afraid to examine it and to consider other options for achieving a more democratic society."—Washington Post Book World (Best Seller List/Washington is Also Reading)
"Some may find it a startling question . . . [b]ut the author argues . . . we should not be afraid to examine it. . . ."—Washington Post Book World (Best Seller List/Washington is Also Reading)
"This is a lively and challenging volume for those who still think of the Constitution as sacred text. Highly recommended at all levels."—Choice
"Dahl probably is the US’s leading scholar of democratic theory. . . . This is a lively and challenging volume for those who still think of the Constitution as sacred text. Highly recommended at all levels."―Choice
"[A] thoughtful and accessible book."—Franklin I. Gamwell, Christian Century
"A devastating attack on the undemocratic character of the American Constitution."—Gordon S. Wood, New York Review of Books
"Students of government, professional and otherwise, and interested general readers will find this book a valuable starting point for thinking about how to improve the performance of American democracy."—Richard J. Maiman, Perspectives on Political Science
"Dahl is . . . a sober and meticulous scholar with unparalleled historical and comparative knowledge of democratic systems. . . . How Democratic is the American Constitution? isreadable, provocative, and presents, in some ways at least, an unorthodox case against the Constitution. . . . [Dahl] makes a decisive case against undue constitutional reverence and against many aspects of the Constitution."—Alan Gibson, The Review of Politics
"Dahl, the dean of American political scientists at the age of 87, offers not only a clear-headed dissection of the U.S. constitutional order but delivers it in prose refreshingly clear of jargon, terms of art, insider neologisms and superfluous data."―R.K. Baker, The Times of Trenton (N.J.)
"Dahl probably is the U.S.’s leading scholar of democratic theory. . . . This is a lively and challenging volume for those who still think of the Constitution as sacred text. Highly recommended at all levels."—Choice
"This book is vintage Dahl at the highest possible level. It is lucid, acutely analytic, literate, and both consistent with the long series of previous books by Dahl and new in its details and broad contours."—Fred Greenstein, Princeton University
From the Publisher
Robert A. Dahl is Sterling Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Yale University and past president of the American Political Science Association. He is the author of numerous books, including Who Governs?, Democracy and Its Critics, and On Democracy, all published by Yale University Press.
Most helpful customer reviews
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Five Stars
By Bob Gibson
Great product for the money
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Five Stars
By Dan Raven
thank you
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
brief
By Robert W. Smith
first, this book is quite brief. less than 200 pages, large font and margins. i can see why he is recognized as a distinguished professor at yale. he is brilliant and engaging. he covered all of the essential topics and this book is a sound, middle-of-the-road text. there were just a few statements he made that i re-re-read, asking myself, "did he really say THAT?" i wish that he had covered more topics and gone into greater depth on those that he did address. perhaps he has done so in other texts? overall, this is an excellent book that is somewhat interesting.
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