''A More Perfect Constitution'' is a book published by American

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

, Larry J. Sabato, in which he proposes a constitutional convention to substantially overhaul the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

. He points out that after the Bill of Rights, there have only been seventeen constitutional amendments over the past 220 years. He argues that a constitutional convention is overdue and is something that the Founding Fathers would have wanted. He offers 23 proposals for revising the Constitution.

Sabato's proposals

The twenty-three proposals run the gamut from changing the length of the U.S. President's term in office and the number and terms of

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

justices to altering the structure of

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

, modifying the Electoral College, and introducing national service. Each of his proposals could be implemented with concurrence of 2/3 of each house of Congress and 3/4 of the states, except for the proposal to give some states more Senators than others. That proposal would require concurrence from every state, or amending the amending formula itself and subsequently amending the constitution to provide for the change in the structure of the Senate. His senate reform proposal was intended to correct what he argued was an imbalance in legislative power in the U.S. Senate, where there is equal representation for all states regardless of population. To address this issue while preserving the Senate's fundamental principles, Sabato proposed adjusting seat allocation based on population size. Specifically, the ten largest states would receive two extra seats each, the next fifteen largest would gain one seat, and the smallest 25 states would keep their current two seats. This new 135-member Senate would be reapportioned every decade following the census, allowing for shifts in representation as state populations change.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:More Perfect Constitution, A 2007 non-fiction books Books about politics of the United States United States constitutional commentary

Sabato's proposals

See also

References

External links