Weakening US Constitution

'We the People' Loses Appeal With People Around the World is an article from The New York Times. It states why people involved in politics believe that the US constitution is losing its appeal as a fundamental building constitution. In the 1960's and 1970's democratic constitutions were written very similar to ours. Although, democratic nations with similar constitutions to ours had gone into a free fall of sorts and many nations revised them in the 1980's and 1990's.

There are many possible reasons for our constitution not working for other nations. One being that our constitution is the oldest still in effect anywhere around the world. Another possibility is that our constitution guarantees relatively few rights in comparison to some new Charters and Bill of Rights that have been formed.

These are a few constitutions that are viewed as a better basis than our own: Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, South African Constitution, and the European Convention on Human Rights.

Thomas Jefferson, one of our founding fathers, had stated in a letter to James Madison in 1789 on constitutions is that it, “naturally expires at the end of 19 years” because “the earth belongs always to the living generation.” For many nations around the world they update or revise their constitution about every 19 years. Perhaps the United States should take the advice of a founding father and clue from other nations and revise their constitution to better protect the people and their rights.