Deconstitutionalization Of America

In The Deconstitutionalization of America: The Forgotten Frailties of Democratic Rule, Roger M. Barrus and his coauthors embark on a discussion of American democracy from the nineteenth century to the present day. The present paradox democracy finds itself in can be summed up as "the best of times and the worst of times." Democracy, at its best, has triumphed throughout the world. It is the authors contention that this same success represents the potential for its undoing: with all governments claiming to be democratic, modern democrats-and this includes just about everyone-find it difficult if not impossible to understand the nature and problems of democracy. Since most everyone lives within a democratic horizon, they have nothing to compare democracy to and no one to point out its faults. In this way, they are hampered in dealing with their social and political problems, some of which may be the result of contradictions inherent in the democratic principle itself. The solution to democracy's ills might not be, after all, more democracy.

The American Constitution held out the hope that ordinary people were capable of deciding their own fates, and in doing so it immeasurably elevated the dignity of common people. The organization and interplay of the parts that comprise the whole American government exist to provide people the opportunity to govern themselves and, at the same time, reveal the limits of democratic self-rule. The forgetting of these limits is not only destructive to the constitution but the nation as a whole.

Roger M. Barrus is Elliott Professor of Political Science at Hampden-Sydney College. John H. Eastby is Elliott Professor of Political Science at Hampden-Sydney College and Director of the Western Culture Program. Joseph H. Lane, Jr. is Assistant Professor at Emory and Henry College. David E. Marion is Elliott Professor of Political Science at Hampden-Sydney College and Director, Center for Leadership in the Public Interest. James F. Pontuso is Elliott Professor of Political Science at Hampden-Sydney College.