Why Calls for a New Constitution Misunderstand America
When Donald Trump shocked the political establishment in 2024—winning not only the Electoral College but also the popular vote—it exposed a crisis inside the Democratic Party. Many progressives suddenly began arguing that the problem wasn’t just policy, but the very structure of American democracy. For them, Trump’s win wasn’t a test of democracy, but proof that our system doesn’t work.
This view is gaining traction among a small but vocal movement calling for a new constitution movement. Writers like Osita Nwanevu, in his book The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding, argue that America needs something akin to a second constitutional convention. Proposals range from adding new states, to eliminating the Electoral College, to packing the Supreme Court.
But before Americans rush to discard the Constitution, it’s worth remembering why this document has survived for nearly 250 years while other nations endlessly rewrite theirs.
The United States Constitution is the oldest written national constitution still in use. While other nations like France and Italy have rewritten their charters repeatedly—France is on its Fifth Republic—the American system has endured with amendments rather than wholesale reinvention.
That endurance is not an accident. The Framers deliberately built a system that balances majority rule with protections for minority rights. James Madison warned in Federalist No. 10 that unchecked majorities often become tyrannical, crushing dissent. The Constitution’s structure—the Senate, the Electoral College, judicial review—was designed to force compromise and slow down sweeping changes.
Critics call this “anti-democratic.” In reality, it is pro-republican in the truest sense of the word. Our system was never meant to be a direct democracy where 51% can dictate everything. It was designed to protect liberty from both mob rule and authoritarian leaders.
Supporters of a new constitution movement claim Trump’s victory shows the system is broken. But the 2024 election demonstrated the opposite: American institutions worked as designed. Despite years of polarization, an often-hostile press, and unprecedented legal warfare against a candidate, the people voted and the result stood.
Instead of undermining the system, Trump’s win showed that elections can still serve as a rebuke to the political class. Voters weren’t choosing between “democracy” and “fascism,” as Democrats framed it. They were choosing between abstract slogans and concrete concerns like inflation, energy costs, and immigration. And when the Constitution required that their voices be counted, the establishment didn’t get its way.
Calls for constitutional revolution ignore how dangerous such efforts can be. Consider countries that constantly reframe their governments:
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Latin America: Bolivia, Venezuela, and Ecuador rewrote their constitutions to expand executive power. The result was political instability and economic decline.
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Europe: Weimar Germany’s weak constitutional structure made it easier for the Nazis to seize absolute power.
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Africa: Many postcolonial nations adopted constitutions modeled on Western democracies, only to abandon them when leaders sought permanent control.
The lesson is simple: tearing up constitutions rarely leads to freer or fairer societies. More often, it creates opportunities for power grabs.
Of course, no constitution is perfect. Americans have always amended rather than abolished. The Bill of Rights corrected early oversights. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments ended slavery and expanded civil rights. The 19th guaranteed women the vote.
Each generation has faced calls to tear everything down. In the 1960s, radicals argued the Constitution was too outdated to address civil rights or the Vietnam War. Yet reforms came not by scrapping it, but by applying its principles.
Today’s critics argue that the Senate is “malapportioned,” that D.C. lacks full representation, or that the Electoral College distorts outcomes. But these are longstanding features of federalism, designed to prevent the largest states from dominating the smallest. The alternative—raw majoritarianism—would destroy the balance that allows a vast, diverse country to govern itself.
The new constitution movement is not really about democracy—it is about power. Losing elections has always tempted parties to rewrite the rules. But America’s genius lies in resisting that temptation.
The Constitution does not promise perfect government. It promises a framework sturdy enough to endure crises, and flexible enough to adapt without collapsing. The better path forward is not revolution but renewal—through persuasion, debate, and yes, amendment when necessary.
As Benjamin Franklin famously warned when asked what kind of government had been created in Philadelphia in 1787: “A republic—if you can keep it.”
DailyClout.io will continue following this story.
Here are our sources and further reading reccomendations.
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https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript
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https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/09/19/americans-views-of-the-nations-democracy/
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https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-us-constitution-and-the-failure-of-parliamentary-democracy/
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