A More Perfect Constitution

Larry J. Sabato

• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
• Year: 2010
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9780802777560
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

"The reader can't help but hold out hope that maybe someday, some of these sweeping changes could actually bring the nation's government out of its intellectual quagmire...his lively, conversational tone and compelling examples make the reader a more than willing student for this updated civics lesson." -- The Hill
The political book of the year, from the acclaimed founder and director of the Center for politics at the University of Virginia.

A More Perfect Constitution presents creative and dynamic proposals from one of the most visionary and fertile political minds of our time to reinvigorate our Constitution and American governance at a time when such change is urgently needed, given the growing dysfunction and unfairness of our political system .
Combining idealism and pragmatism, and with full respect for the original document, Larry Sabato's thought-provoking ideas range from the length of the president's term in office and the number and terms of Supreme Court justices to the vagaries of the antiquated Electoral College, and a compelling call for universal national service-all laced through with the history behind each proposal and the potential impact on the lives of ordinary people. Aware that such changes won't happen easily, but that the original Framers fully expected the Constitution to be regularly revised, Sabato urges us to engage in the debate and discussion his ideas will surely engender. During an election year, no book is more relevant or significant than this.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Preamble
• Chapter One: Creating A Capital Congress
• Chapter Two: Perfecting The Presidency
• Chapter Three: The New Courts: Supreme But Not Eternal
• Chapter Four: Politics: America’s Missing Constitutional Link
• Chapter Five: A Citizenship Of Service: Asking What We Can Do For Our Country . . . And Ourselves
• Chapter Six: Vox Populi: What Do The People Think Of Constitutional Change?
• Chapter Seven: Calling The Twenty-First-Century Constitutional Convention
• Conclusion: Getting There From Here
• Afterword
• Appendix: United States Constitution And Amendments
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• Selected Bibliography
• eCopyright