Understanding the Constitution - No Comment

Glenn Ricketts

During this past spring semester in my American government course, we were discussing the Electoral College, and how it is possible for a presidential candidate to win an election even if he doesn’t obtain a majority of the popular vote total cast nationally. I noted that, while this was a relatively rare occurrence, it had actually happened four times in American electoral history, most recently in 2000. But what was different about that case,  I remarked to the class, was that a striking proportion of adult voters seemed to be wholly unaware of how the president is elected under our constitutional system. I recalled that many students arrived in my classes the morning after the 2000 presidential election bewildered and angry. How could this be, they demanded to know. Isn’t the United States a democracy, after all? 

After explaining once again the difference between a democracy and a constitutional republic, I posed a question to the class: what’s the trouble? Why were so many people nowadays – themselves included – so completely uninformed about something that had been so clearly understood by my parents and earlier generations?    Why, I persisted, when the text of the Constitution was available to absolutely anyone, were so many citizens and voters living in the "information age" unfamiliar with the method through which their president was elected? 

One of the students quickly piped up in response: The problem, he asserted, was the fact that the Constitution itself was impossible to read. If only it could be re-written in modern, every day language such as we hear on TV or read on Facebook, then more people like himself would be able to understand it. 

I thanked him, and the discussion continued.

  • Share

Most Commented

September 6, 2024

1.

Professor Alleges "Widespread" Discriminatory Hiring Coverup at University of Washington

Audio acquired by the National Association of Scholars describes allegations of coverup race-based hiring coverup at the University of Washington...

October 29, 2024

2.

The Looming Irrelevance of Middle East Study Centers

Today’s Middle Eastern Studies Centers are facing a crisis due to the winds of change in the Middle East and their own ideological echo chamber....

September 25, 2024

3.

NAS Statement on University of Pennsylvania Sanction of Amy Wax

The National Association of Scholars is outraged—but not surprised—by Penn's decision to penalize Wax for exercising her academic freedom. ...

Most Read

May 15, 2015

1.

Where Did We Get the Idea That Only White People Can Be Racist?

A look at the double standard that has arisen regarding racism, illustrated recently by the reaction to a black professor's biased comments on Twitter....

October 12, 2010

2.

Ask a Scholar: What is the True Definition of Latino?

What does it mean to be Latino? Are only Latin American people Latino, or does the term apply to anyone whose language derived from Latin?...

September 21, 2010

3.

Ask a Scholar: What Does YHWH Elohim Mean?

A reader asks, "If Elohim refers to multiple 'gods,' then Yhwh Elohim really means Lord of Gods...the one of many, right?" A Hebrew expert answers....