CHAPTER 2 The Constitution
the United States by ending slavery; extending voting rights to AfricanAmericans, women, and young people ages 18 to 20; and making the Senate
subject to popular vote.
The Constitution is also changed by decisions and interpretations of the
U.S. Supreme Court. For instance, in Marbury v. Madison (1803), the Court
claimed the power of judicial review—the right to declare the actions of the
other branches of government null and void if they are contrary to the
Constitution—even though such a power is not specifically mentioned in the
Constitution. In Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), and later in Roe v. Wade
(1973), to take another example, the Court supported a claim for the existence
of a fundamental right of privacy even though such a right is not explicitly
mentioned in the Constitution.
The meaning of the Constitution also changes through changing political
practices, which end up serving as precedents for political actors. Political
judicial review
The power of the Supreme Court to
declare actions of the other
branches and levels of government
unconstitutional.
A Republic or a Democracy?
PROPOSITION: The Constitution created a republic, not
a democracy.
AGREE:
The framers created a republic because
they were worried about the possibility of majority
tyranny in the new nation. Consequently, they wrote
a number of provisions into the Constitution to control the purported excesses of democracy: separation
of powers, checks and balances, federalism, an appointed judiciary with life tenure, selection of the
president by the electoral college, and election of
members of the Senate by state legislatures.
Although some of these provisions have not worked
precisely as the framers intended, the American system of government remains essentially “republican”
in nature, with the majority finding it very difficult to
prevail.
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DISAGREE: Although the framers had every intention of creating a republic and holding democracy
in check, they were unable to do so. Over the years, as
the nation became more egalitarian in its cultural,
economic, and social life, the tide of democracy transformed the original constitutional design. By formal
amendment, judicial interpretations, and changing
political practices, government has been fashioned
into a highly responsive set of institutions, heeding
the voice of the people. Today, the national government does pretty much what the American people
want it to do, even if it sometimes takes a while for it
to do so.
THE AUTHORS: You will see throughout this text that the United
States is far more democratic than the framers had intended it to be—
with much of the credit going to the “struggle for democracy”—but that
our system remains very much a republican one. Those pressing for national action to solve any number of problems soon run up against the
barriers to decisive action erected by the framers. At almost every point
in our system of government, it is easier to block or to veto than to act or
enact. There is no denying the fact, however, that elected representatives
and executives often try to be responsive to the popular will. Sometimes
they are successful; sometimes they are not. There is no denying the additional fact that the framers were successful in creating a governing
structure in which political liberty, an important component of democracy, is protected and allowed to flourish. We would call such a system of
government a “democrat republic.”