If you’re ever looking for a challenging and interesting evening, count yourself fortunate if Larry Sabato happens to be giving a lecture in the area. Professor Sabato, best known to the general public as a political pundit, is much more than that. He is a Rhodes Scholar, the author of numerous books, Director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia and, I suspect, one of the favorite teachers at Mr. Jefferson’s Academical Village.
Last week he was featured as The Constitution Day Fowler Lecturer at Roanoke College and for a change, he was not talking about the upcoming elections, about which we have all heard quite enough. Instead, appropriate to the day, he spoke on the Constitution. One of the amazing things he mentioned that some of us already knew, is that very few people have actually read the original document and many have virtually no understanding of it.
A central point that any reading of the works of the Founding Fathers will confirm is that the Constitutional Convention of 1787 had no idea the document they forged would remain intact for perpetuity. Thomas Jefferson, who actually had little input in its writing, thought that it should be re-worked every generation which, according to his calculations, would produce a new Constitution every 19 years. The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments, came into being in 1789 and helped secure the ratification of the Constitution. Only 17 amendments have been added since then. The last one, the 27th, was proposed in 1789 but not ratified until 1992. It forbids Congress from raising their salaries until there had been an intervening election. It took two centuries plus two years for that controversial thought to become law.
Sabato should have been around a long time ago but at least, we have the benefit of his wisdom now. In his book, A More Perfect Constitution, (2007), he offers 23 ideas that would revitalize and make the Constitution fairer. In his talk he said there were some suggestions of which he approved, some with which he could live, and some that he did not like, but thought they were important, nonetheless. The reader cannot tell into which category the ideas fall; he did not want his students to try to gain favor by agreeing with him.
Among the items with which he dealt were Presidential term limits. He proposed an eight-year term with a referendum at the end of the sixth year where the electorate could give the incumbent the thumbs up for the additional two years or say, “Thanks, but we’re ready for a change.” Congressional term limits are more complicated and he believes that there is merit to institutional memory and seniority. Neither of those amendments will ever see the light of day, says he.
Another interesting suggestion is eliminating the lifetime appointment of federal judges. He proposes a fifteen-year term and in the case of the Supreme Court, the appointments should be staggered in groups of three every five years. That would give every President a chance to place members on the court, but avoid the stacking of the bench that has become such a problem. To ask that judges retire is a ridiculous notion, he posits. The judges are surrounded by a coterie of brilliant young people. “It’s inside work with no heavy lifting. Why in the world would a judge ever want to retire?”
Another point Sabato offered (which I have long thought necessary) is that every able-bodied person in the United States should have two years of service to the government. This would not necessarily be in the military; there are countless ways it could be applied. He made no comment on how it would be financed but working for the commonweal would certainly enhance the individual’s sense of having earned, at least in part, the rights which are so often taken for granted.
He believes there should be a Constitutional Convention every century, but getting Congress, the state legislatures, or the people to call one seems like a hopeless idea.
There were numerous other ponderings worth more than a passing thought. Reading the book and giving them due consideration would be a worthwhile pursuit for the coming snowy winter nights
To think what James Madison and his colleagues did in Philadelphia in 1787 is applicable in all cases today is the equivalent of believing the commandments of the Bible are inviolate in all modern society. There some good ideas in the Holy Books, but stoning women for adultery and executing men for working on the Sabbath are not among them.
Written in stone and bound in brass? It should not be so with the Constitution. As Larry Sabato says, “Read my book!” We may all do that, but it may take more than two centuries and two years for Congress to take these suggestions to heart.
By Hayden Hollingsworth [email protected]