It is increasingly common to hear that the Constitution is the cause—or at least one cause—of America’s political dysfunction. It gets in the way of the efficient government the modern world needs. It does not offer a coherent enough moral vision. It allows too much dissension and factionalism. It does not keep up with the times. All such complaints, Levin argues, miss the point of the Constitution, and fail to see what we really need from our constitutional institutions. That framework speaks to the demands of a divided people, and it can provide a kind of civil unity amidst significant differences. While we have drifted from the kind of politics the Constitution points to, we still have its framework to draw on. If we want to revive American politics, we must return to it. Four Law & Liberty contributors offer their reactions.
Yuval Levin urges us to take America’s greatest constitutional thinker, James Madison, as our lodestar.
Gone are the days of “cross-partisan bargaining and accommodation.” The days of zero-sum, “bitter partisanship” are here.
We are not being failed by the Constitution; we are failing the Constitution.
Yuval Levin approaches the Constitution in the "spirit of repair" and demonstrates its benefits for the here and now.