Is the Constitution to blame for everything? Theses on the political crisis in the USA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32387/prokla.v51i203.1939Keywords:
Constitution, USA, Electoral College, democracy, voting rights, political cultureAbstract
This paper discusses the role of the U.S. Constitution in the contemporary political crisis in the United States, in three sections. First the question is raised whether and to what extent the Constitution can be termed »democratic«, and why the apparently undemocratic institution called the Electoral College is still in place for presidential elections. Second, the real operation of the Constitution is considered using the case of voting rights; the thesis here is that one root of the current political crisis is the Republican party’s effort to restrict participation in elections by nonwhite minorities and the poor. In section three, the central role of the Constitution as a symbol of the rule of law in the political culture of the USA is considered, and the thesis advanced that the patriotic allegiance to the Constitution may be losing its unifying power in a time of political polarization.
Downloads
References
Adams, John (2003): Novangulus, or: A History of the Dispute with America from its Origins, in 1754, to the Present Times (1774). In: The Papers of John Adams, vol. 2. Cambridge 2003.
Allen, Steven. J. (2014): »We have lost the South for a generation«: what Lyndon Johnson said, or would have said if only he had said it. (7.10.2014). URL: https://capitalresearch.org/, Zugriff 23.3.2021.
Anishanslin, Zara (2019): What we get wrong about Ben Franklin’s »A Republic if you can keep it«. In: The Washington Post, 29.10.2019.
Blake, Aaron (2020): Trump just comes out and says it: the GOP is hurt when it’s easier to vote. In: The Washington Post, 30.3.2020.
Blight, David W. (2021): How the myth of Trumpism may endure. In: The New York Times, 9.1.2021.
DuBois, Ellen (2006): Reconstruction and the Battle for Women’s Suffrage. In: History Now (Spring 2006). URL: https://www.gilderlehrman.org/, Zugriff: 25.3.2021.
Franks, Marry A. (2019): The Cult of the Constitution. Our Deadly Devotion to Guns and Free Speech. Stanford.
Gardner, Amy / Rabinowitz, Kate / Stevens, Harry (2021): How GOP-backed voting measures could create hurdles for tens of millions of voters. In: The Washington Post, 21.3.2021.
Jones, Martha S. (2020): Vanguard. How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote and Insisted on Equality for All. New York.
Kielmansegg, Peter Graf (2021): Amerikanische Sklerose. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 28.1.2021.
Millheiser, Ian (2020): America’s undemocratic Senate, by the numbers (6.11.2020). URL: https://www.vox.com/, Zugriff: 24.3.2021.
Raze, Kyle (2019): Voter suppression? Evidence from Shelby County vs. Holder (30.8.2019). URL: https://kyleraze.com/, Zugriff: 23.3.2021.
Zaretzky, Eli (2021): The Big Lie. In: London Review of Books. 15.2.2021.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
