How Democratic Is the American Constitution? by Robert A. Dahl

We need to "change . . . the way we think about" the American Constitution, says Robert Dahl. Though it is now widely revered among us as a "sacred text," its worth depends solely on its service to democracy. The democratic ideal is full political equality, the equal right of all adult citizens "to participate, directly or indirectly through their elected representatives, in making the . . . decisions that citizens are expected (or required) to obey." By this standard, our system remains flawed. Dahl, perhaps our preeminent democratic thinker, seeks here "to invigorate     . . . the critical examination of the Constitution and its shortcomings."

To aid critical distance, Dahl reviews the grave political inequalities authorized by the Constitution of 1787, from some of which we have been freed by subsequent democratizing struggles, including a ruinous civil war. Toward the same end, he unmasks the illusion "that our Constitution has been a model for the rest of the democratic world."

After comparing the U.S. with the 21 other countries where "political rights above the basic threshold for democracy" have persisted for at least 50 years, Dahl concludes that our system "is not just unusual. It is unique."