Wrapping Up: The Living Constitution

Thanks to Prof. Buchanan, Prof. Amar, Judge Kozinski, and Dr. Niskanen for their penetrating and insightful essays and comments.

Prof. Buchanan’s lead essay and his response to comments emphasized the importance of a constitution not only as a rulebook for a well-ordered society, but also as a statement of the values of a liberal people. The fact that it is hard, as the commentators made abundantly clear, to gain widespread agreement on the validity and importance of these values highlights the challenge of drafting and implementing a successful constitution—and successful amendments. Clearly, we have it pretty good in the United States, but, Judge Kozinski’s Panglossianism notwithstanding, it’s doubtful that we live in the best of all possible constitutional worlds. That said, it’s tough to find agreement on even seemingly small changes.

Prof. Amar’s and Dr. Niskanen’s illuminating exchange on the wisdom of enacting and possibly repealing the 17th Amendment shows how even a minor shift in constitutional rules can have important consequences for the character of our government and society. Their debate, over what may seem like just a detail of our system of democratic representation, casts into bold relief the daunting challenge posed by Prof. Buchanan’s proposal to amend the Constitution to better realize a government that is fiscally responsible, does not shower favors on special interests, and acknowledges the right of people everywhere to benefit each other through exchange.

So, we may not have uncovered the Amendment of the Future this month. But Article Five isn’t going anywhere, either. Perhaps others—maybe some of our blogger-contributors—will rise to the challenge of realizing Buchanan’s—or their own—constitutional vision.

Thanks again to our eminent contributors—and thanks to our readers—for helping us make the inaugural issue of Cato Unbound such a big success.

Don’t forget to stay tuned for details about January’s very different topic and line-up!

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