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Title: How Democratic Is the American Constitution? by Robert Alan Dahl ISBN: 0-300-09218-0 Publisher: Yale University Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.56 (18 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A short course in comparative democracy
Comment: I was enthralled by this book the instant I saw it, because it asked hard questions about American democracy that I've never heard from anyone else before. I would summarize this book as a short course in comparative democracies (sort of like comparative religions), discussing the similarities and differences between democracies that work.
The main question that Dahl asks is, "Why should we feel bound today by a document produced more than two centuries ago by a group of fifty-five mortal men, actually signed by only thirty-nine, a fair number of whom were slaveholders, and adopted in only thirteen states by the votes of fewer than two thousand men, all of whom are long since dead and mainly forgotten?"
Chapter 3 is the most interesting part of this book, where Dahl compares the American constitution to other democratic governments. "[A]mong the countries most comparable to the United States...not one has adopted our American constitutional system. It would be fair to say that without a single exception they have all rejected it. Why?" Dahl explores this question with respect to the American bicameral chambers (House and Senate), unequal representation (in the Senate), judicial review, the electoral system, two-party systems, and the presidental system. He discusses how the American system works versus other democracies, comparatively pointing out strengths and weaknesses.
Overall I found this a stimulating, well-written, and deep book that looks at fundamental questions about American democracy that few people seem to be asking. Unlike other authors, however, he doesn't do this in a pessimistic manner, criticizing the American system needlessly. It was more of "we've done pretty well all things considered, but we can do better, and we should strive to do better."
Rating: 4
Summary: Brief but insightful
Comment: Dahl's book is actually more of an extended essay on the Constitution and the conflicts it has with modern concepts of democracy. In particular, Dahl focuses on such elements of the Constitution as senate representation and the electoral college, both of which provide representation on a basis other than that of population.
These "flaws" in the Constitution are nothing new. Dahl's more insightful work is where he compares the United States to other, similar democracies and sees how our Constitution compares with theirs.
This is a fast read, but that's as much a result of the brevity of the book as its writing. There are items Dahl could have developed more: in particular, the difficulty of amendment ratification fits perfectly into his book, but he really only mentions it as a stumbling block to Constitutional reform, not as another anti-democratic element of the document.
Despite its flaws, this book succeeds in its chief goal, which is to look at the Constitution in a realistic manner, without the glorification that so many people give it. It may provide more questions than answers, but these are good questions that need to be asked.
Rating: 3
Summary: Not Dahl's best
Comment: Dahl is a fine scholar, as shown by his critiques, decades ago, of the leftist cliches of C. Wright Mills, and by his history of politics in the city of New Haven.
There has been a falling off in the quality of his work in recent years, although sometimes the old fire is still there. In this book, I suspect, he is trying too hard to be accessible.
One of his points in this book is that the judicial review of legislative actions has gone too far -- federal judges regularly usurp the proper province of elected officials. This view, of course, is shared by many on both the left and the right. Each side believes, naturally enough, that the courts that strike down its favorite statutes are tyrannically usurping power.
In his discussions of judicial review, Dahl essentially alludes to issues that require careful consideration. His allusions just contribute to his display of populist values and pessimism about their implementation. They aren't analytically helpful.
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Title: Veto Bargaining: Presidents and the Politics of Negative Power (Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions) by Charles M. Cameron ISBN: 0521625505 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 2000 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: On Democracy (Yale Nota Bene) by Robert A. Dahl ISBN: 0300084552 Publisher: Yale Nota Bene Pub. Date: 01 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion (Cambridge Studies in Political Psychology & Public Opinion) by John R. Zaller ISBN: 0521407869 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 1992 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Why Societies Need Dissent (Oliver Wendell Holmes Lectures, 2003) by Cass R. Sunstein ISBN: 0674012682 Publisher: Harvard University Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: Designing Democracy: What Constitutions Do by Cass R. Sunstein ISBN: 0195158407 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 November, 2002 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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