How democratic is the United States Constitution?

Although it was created to establish a federal democratic republic, the United

States Constitution, by design, empowers the Senate, the president, and the judicial

branch over most people in America. Therefore, because of the framer's original purpose

of limiting democracy and its undemocratic origins and elements, it is hard to say that the

Constitution is entirely democratic.

The United States of America Constitution was written, ratified, and has been in

operation since the 18th century (1787, 1788, and 1789, respectively). For context, this

Constitution came to place as a means to reform the Articles of Confederation, in which a

loose alliance between states formed a weak central government. In "Framing the

Constitution," Charles Beard proposes evidence that the framers of the Constitution were

more interested in protecting the interests of the wealthy class and private property than

in furthering democratic principles (Woll, 1). Thus, it is fair to affirm that the framers

approached the creation of the Constitution with two principal political purposes in mind.

First, to create a strong enough government to protect property from radical state

legislatures and promote commerce. Secondly, and more relevant to the topic, to prevent

the threat presented by the "excessive democracy" of the state and national governments

under the Articles of Confederation (Lowi, 48). Within the purposes of the Constitution,

this factor already states a limited democracy within the US government.

Even if we ignored the predisposition of the framers to limit the Constitution's

democracy as a way to counter the Articles of Confederation's "excessive democracy,"

the creation of the Constitution could not even be considered a democratic process. A
democracy can only be considered as so if the people govern themselves and have the

power within the legislation. Not only was the Constitution not created as the result of a

democratic process since only a few selected individuals wrote it, but it also did not give

power to all the people. Ironically, the famous first three words of the Consitution, "We

the People…" only referred to white men, leaving out both women and people of color.

Moreover, even some people who were constitutionally allowed to vote were restricted to

vote upon additional requirements from the different states. So, how can there be a

democracy when only a percentage of the people is in power?

Furthermore, the contents of the Constitution itself were undemocratic regarding

many elements. For example, one of the most significant undemocratic elements of the

framer's Constitution was that it enabled slavery to happen and even denied Congress the

power to prohibit slaves' importation. This specific constitutional right, along with many

other constitutional rights that can be categorized as undemocratic, had to be changed by

adding amendments later in time. Some of the amendments added with the purpose of

changing the Constitution's undemocratic aspects were amendments thirteen (13), added

with the purpose of abolishing slavery; fifteen (15), added with the purpose of giving

people of color the right to vote; and nineteen (19), added with the purpose of giving

women the right to vote, among others.

As mentioned at the beginning of this essay, the United States Constitution

empowers the Senate, the president, and the judicial branch over its citizens. As a result

of The Connecticut Compromise (also known as The Great Compromise of 1787), the

Senate
overrepresents citizens from smaller states by allocating the same number of Senators as

citizens from larger states. The president's election can be considered undemocratic

because of the intervention of the Electoral College since it can sometimes overrule the

majority of the popular vote, thus disturbing the democratic nature and purpose of the

elections. A perfect example of this situation can be the 2016 presidential elections in

which Hillary Clinton won the majority vote. However, because of the Electoral

College's intervention, President Donald Trump assumed office. Finally, the judicial

branch. Although Hamilton defines the judiciary as "the weakest of the three departments

of power" (Federalist 78), it threatens democracy in different ways. According to the

Constitution, judges can be appointed for life, giving them the power to shape the law of

an entire generation. In addition, federal judges also have the power to strike down laws

enacted by legislatures that have been elected democratically.

Ultimately, it is worth mentioning the possibility for the American people to

amend the Constitution. This possibility could be argued as democratic if it was not for

the fact that citizens do not actually partake in the process of amending the Constitution.

Article V states that only when two-thirds of both Houses approve may Congress propose

an amendment, thus giving the Senate the power to veto. This power has been used on

several occasions before, for example, to block amendment nineteen, which gives women

the right to vote. Because of the equality of state vote regardless of population (which I

previously mentioned), the Senate can stop an amendment from happening even if the

majority of the American population supports it.

 So, to answer the question "How democratic is the United States Constitution?"

and taking into consideration everything that has been mentioned in this essay, including

the framer's purpose of countering the failed Articles of Confederation's "excessive

democracy," the creation of the Constitution without an entirely democratic process, and

all the undemocratic elements within the Constitution itself, it is fair to say that the

framer's Constitution was not democratic enough. Some people would argue that with

time most of the undemocratic aspects of the Constitution have been amended. For

example, the addition of the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments of the Constitution,

ensured the rights and liberties of the American people. Democracy is built on the

fundament of human rights, and the Bill of Rights allowed these rights to be protected.

But, even with all the amendments that have been added since it was created, the

Constitution is still far from being the completely democratic document that most

American citizens believe it to be.

 Works cited

Lowi, Theodore J., et al. American Government: Power and Purpose. W.W. Norton &

Company, 2021.

Woll, Peter, and Charles Beard. “Framing the Constitution.” American Government:

Readings and Cases, Pearson Longman, New York, 2012.

References

The United States Constitution

The Bill of Rights

Federalist 78