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I am disappointed that "The Constitution" doesn't get mentioned by more people. Clearly, the USA has a terrible Constitution and it needs a new one. What might

I am disappointed that "The Constitution" doesn't get mentioned by more people. Clearly, the USA has a terrible Constitution and it needs a new one. What might have seemed sensible 1787 certainly does not make sense in 2017. And many of the items that people do list are merely symptoms of the sickness of the Constitution. Among its many flaws, perhaps the most obvious is the "Rotten Borough" problem of the less populated states. Britain faced this problem in the early 1800s and resolved it with the reforms of 1832: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotten_and_pocket_boroughs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotten_and_pocket_boroughs I have a personal list of things I'd like to see in a new Constitution, but what I personally want is not very important. What is important is that the citizens of the USA realize what is the root cause of the many ills they complain of: the Constitution.

erelde 10y ago
In the same kind of issue (IMO): voting on weekdays. I don't know if that's in the US constitution (I'm French), but really, who thought that was a good idea. It seems like a systemic issue easier to address than the whole constitution and electoral college system.
- taejo 10y ago
  > I don't know if that's in the US constitution (I'm French), but really, who thought that was a good idea. FYI: it's not, but it's been set by statute since 1845.
AnimalMuppet 10y ago
The less populated states are not a "rotten borough" problem. For that, you'd have to have literally an uninhabited state that still got to "elect" two Senators and one Representative. What we actually have is states that get to elect two Senators, even though they have much fewer people than other states that also get to elect two Senators. It's that way for a reason, and that reason still makes some sense in 2017. I'd say we suffer far more from the opposite problem: Parts of the Constitution that have not been repealed, but which are no longer in force because various court decisions have gutted them. (The Tenth Amendment comes to mind.)

erelde 10y ago

In the same kind of issue (IMO): voting on weekdays. I don't know if that's in the US constitution (I'm French), but really, who thought that was a good idea. It seems like a systemic issue easier to address than the whole constitution and electoral college system.

taejo 10y ago
> I don't know if that's in the US constitution (I'm French), but really, who thought that was a good idea. FYI: it's not, but it's been set by statute since 1845.

AnimalMuppet 10y ago

The less populated states are not a "rotten borough" problem. For that, you'd have to have literally an uninhabited state that still got to "elect" two Senators and one Representative. What we actually have is states that get to elect two Senators, even though they have much fewer people than other states that also get to elect two Senators. It's that way for a reason, and that reason still makes some sense in 2017. I'd say we suffer far more from the opposite problem: Parts of the Constitution that have not been repealed, but which are no longer in force because various court decisions have gutted them. (The Tenth Amendment comes to mind.)