Jill Lepore on Reimagining the Constitution and the Amendment Process

The "Stuckness" of American Politics

• 📌 American political life is characterized by a "stuckness," a polarization that makes creative and expansive thinking about the Constitution difficult.
• ⚠️ The Constitution is often used as a weapon rather than a tool for adaptation, leading to a sense that the United States is broken and unfixable.

Reclaiming the Philosophy of Amendment

• 💡 Jill Lepore's book, "We The People," aims to rekindle the possibility of repair by exploring the amendment process as a founding principle.
• 🧵 The concept of amendment is historically linked to mending and sewing, representing a malleable approach to governance, contrasting with the idea of immutable law.
• 📜 Written constitutions, a relatively new concept, spread globally with the idea of amendment, yet the US Constitution has not been amended in decades.

History, Originalism, and Constitutional Interpretation

• 🔍 Historians and originalists approach the past differently; originalism often relies on a narrowly defined set of documents, while historians use a broader, more inclusive record.
• ⚖️ The Supreme Court's reliance on "history and tradition" is questioned, as different interpretations of history exist, and originalism's claim to being "original" is challenged.
• 🗣️ The book argues that constitutional meaning is constructed by excavating the past, and we owe it to those whose voices were not heard in their lifetimes to listen.

The Amendment Process and Its Decline

• 📉 The US Constitution is now fundamentally unamendable due to mathematical hurdles and political polarization, making it difficult to ratify amendments.
• 🏛️ The decline of constitutional amendment is partly attributed to FDR's shift to judicial action and the subsequent rise of originalism as a reaction to judicial activism.
• 🚫 The failure of both fiscal and social conservatives to pass amendments has led to a convergence around originalism as a strategy.

Amendment as a Release Valve for Violence

• 💥 The amendment process was conceived as a mechanism to prevent violence and insurrection by providing a peaceful means for change.
• 📜 Early state constitutions included amendment provisions out of a deep-seated fear of repeating the violence of the Revolutionary War.
• 🤝 The idea of amendment embodies a moral commitment to avoiding political violence and fostering stability through peaceable means.

Rekindling Constitutional Imagination

• 💡 The Amendments Project aims to recover a lost tradition of constitutional tinkering and rekindle American constitutional imagination.
• 🗣️ There is a widespread, cross-party interest in the Constitution, suggesting an opportunity to host public gatherings for dialogue and repair.
• ✍️ The Constitution is presented as a living document that belongs to the people, who have the power and responsibility to mend and repair it.