CONSTITUTIONAL CONVERSATIONS First Principles of American Constitutionalism
SCENE AT THE SIGNING OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES – HOWARD CHANDLER CHRISTY, PUBLIC DOMAIN
BY DAVID GRAY ADLER
Freedom of Speech. Equal Protection. Impeachment. Insurrection. “Tis funny about th’ constitution,” said Mr. Dooley, the legendary, philosophical Irish bartender created by Finley Peter Dunne. “It reads plain, but no wan can undherstant it without an interpreter.” Since the dawn of the republic, Americans have engaged in spirited, often heated debates about the meaning of the U.S. Constitution. This is not surprising for a nation whose very origins lay in fundamental disputes with England about the nature and purpose of constitutions. Arguments about the Constitution, it may be fairly said, are in our DNA. They raise questions of great moment for a nation committed to the rule of law, equal protection, and democratic values. Do 36
women possess a right to govern their own reproductive organs? Is the president immune from criminal prosecution? Is the president subordinate to the law and amenable to judicial process? Constitutional conversations are vital to the health, maintenance, and integrity of the republic. Informed citizens engaged in public debate, the framers of the Constitution believed, can scrutinize and improve governmental programs, policies and laws with valuable criticisms, insights and recommendations. Concerned citizens—“Madisonian Monitors,” in honor of James Madison, Father of the Constitution—can insist on the employment of facts, evidence, and truth in public discourse. Constitutional conversations, moreover, are integral to the
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fulfillment of the premises, promises, and principles of American Constitutionalism: Government based on the consent of the governed and governmental accountability both to the rule of law and the citizenry. For that matter, constitutional conversations that reflect a working grasp of those principles serve the founders’ historic dream, as expressed by Alexander Hamilton in No. 1 of the Federalist Papers, of a nation governed by reasoned discussion and debate, rather than one ruled by force and oppression. Americans regularly declare their affection, admiration, and even reverence for the Constitution, but too few can claim knowledge of it. Civic literacy—a functional knowledge of the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, the
