Does the Constitution get amended often enough?

[Hawki97]

The Supreme Court thread hit on this but let’s hear your thoughts. The last amendment to the constitution was in 1992 and dealt with making sure the slimy bastards representing us in DC couldn’t stack the deck further on their comp. Before that, it was 1971 that gave 18 year olds the right to vote.

That’s two amendments in a half century.

Considering how fast the world is changing, is the constitution falling behind? Or is the constitution borderline infallible and doesn't need regular tweaks? Poll above. Discuss below.

 

[Rifler]

Difficult to change by design,.. We can amend it as much as we are able, simply requires consensus.

 

[binsfeldcyhawk2]

Answer is somewhere in the middle.

 

[Hawki97]

Difficult to change by design,.. We can amend it as much as we are able, simply requires consensus.

Almost answers the question. Thanks for trying. At a minimum, please vote in the poll. It’s your duty as an American.

 

[Hawki97]

Answer is somewhere in the middle.

 

[Rifler]

Almost answers the question. Thanks for trying. At a minimum, please vote in the poll. It’s your duty as an American.

A correct answer to your poll isn't even listed,.. The constitution isn't perfect and "regular" updates aren't even an option.

 

[THE_DEVIL]

Needs to be amended a lot more but I don't trust the electorate to do it correctly.

 

[Hawki97]

A correct answer to your poll isn't even listed,.. The constitution isn't perfect and "regular" updates aren't even an option.

Getting closer. Explain yourself.

 

[Rifler]

Needs to be amended a lot more but I don't trust the electorate to do it correctly.

Neither did the Founders,.. That's why it's so difficult to do.

 

[Hawki97]

Needs to be amended a lot more but I don't trust the electorate to do it correctly.

You cut right to where I hoped this would go! I do believe it probably needs to be amended more than a couple times a century - but holy shit, who on earth would you trust to do it in this political landscape?! Will we see another amendment in our lifetimes? Will it ever happen before the asteroid hits?

 

[StormHawk42]

Back in high school history, we had an assignment to propose a new amendment. Mine was dropping the natural-born citizen requirement to be president. Didn’t make sense to me then or now, nearly 20 years later.

It should be amended more but it’s just so insanely hard to do, especially with the kind of polarization we have.

 

[Aardvark86]

Simply stated, no. While I'm not in the jeffersonian camp of having a regular convention every generation or so, I'm fully open to people trying to change the rules through the procedures we agreed we'd use to do so. We should have way more proposals to amend the constitution, both from congress and the state legislatures, than we have, and they should be covered in the political press with more attention than is paid to the foibles of particular politicians.

That said, the beauty of the constitution, which most people forget, is that its most important protections are in its structure, not in the bill of rights. I'd hope we wouldn't turn our constitution into some 1936 soviet constitution knock-off.

 

[JWolf74]

Needs to be amended a lot more but I don't trust the electorate to do it correctly.

This

 

[Hawki97]

Simply stated, no. While I'm not in the jeffersonian camp of having a regular convention every generation or so, I'm fully open to people trying to change the rules through the procedures we agreed we'd use to do so. We should have way more proposals to amend the constitution, both from congress and the state legislatures, than we have, and they should be covered in the political press with more attention than is paid to the foibles of particular politicians.

That said, the beauty of the constitution, which most people forget, is that its most important protections are in its structure, not in the bill of rights. I'd hope we wouldn't turn our constitution into some 1936 soviet constitution knock-off.

Great response. And 100% on the highlighted. That said, I'd argue the Articles themselves are under new pressures they've not previously experienced thanks to an evolving world.

 

[Aardvark86]

The Supreme Court thread hit on this but let’s hear your thoughts. The last amendment to the constitution was in 1992 and dealt with making sure the slimy bastards representing us in DC couldn’t stack the deck further on their comp. Before that, it was 1971 that gave 18 year olds the right to vote.

That’s two amendments in a half century.

Considering how fast the world is changing, is the constitution falling behind? Or is the constitution borderline infallible and doesn't need regular tweaks? Poll above. Discuss below.

BTW, re: our most recent amendment, if folks really want to get a chuckle and understand how long it's been since we amended the constitution, take a look at just when the 27th amendment was proposed. (I'll not reveal it here)