Constitution

US Constitution. Nature: The US Constitution is a codified constitution, which was and remains supreme to all other laws (including the 50 state constitutions) in the US. It sets out how different parts of the government work and what they can and cannot do (including Congress). History: The Constitution was drafted in 1787 and came into effect in 1789. It came after the Articles of Confederation, which came into effect as a result of the ‘American Revolution’, which lasted between 1775 and 1783. Structure: The Constitution has a preamble, seven articles and 27 amendments. The first article focuses on Congress, the second article focuses on the President, the third article focuses on the Supreme Court and the fourth article focuses on federalism. Since 1789, 27 amendments have been added to the end of the Constitution: the first 10 (known as the ‘Bill of Rights’) were added in 1791 and numbers 13 to 15 were added following the ‘Civil War’.
Amending the US Constitution. The process: Amending the Constitution happens in two steps: proposal and ratification and there are two ways to do each. Proposal: Two-thirds of both the Senate and the House (used 33 times); A constitutional convention called on the request of two-thirds of state legislatures (never used). Ratification: Three-quarters of state legislatures (used 25 times); Constitutional conventions in three-quarters of states (used once). Difficult: Adding amendments is difficult; it involves supermajorities and has only happened 27 times (and not since 1992). Amendments cannot happen on a whim (only the 18th has been repealed). The Constitution struggles to stay up to date (see, arguably, the Electoral College). Non-entrenchment: However, the Constitution is still almost completely unentrenched. The Constitution can be changed to stay up to date (see the 13th). Gödel's Loophole means that the US could become a dictatorship. ‘People power’: The amendment process can involve the American people directly, through constitutional conventions. This mirrors the ratification of the Constitution and maintains ‘people power’. A constitutional convention has been used once for ratification and never for proposal. States: The states are heavily involved in the amendment process. Heavily involving the states reflects the fact that the US is federal. States with vastly unequal populations are given an equal say.
Bipartisanship. What is it? ‘Founding fathers’ George Washington and James Madison were both suspicious of political parties. Today, bipartisanship refers to when Democrats and Republicans work together, particularly in Congress. How bipartisan is the US? Since 2021, Joe Biden and Congress have passed “bipartisan” bills, like the Infrastructure and Jobs Act, CHIPS and Science Act and Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023. 2022 research from FiscalNote suggests that bipartisanship in Congress remained at around the same levels between 2011 and 2021. 2015 research by Clio Andris et. al. found that, with some exceptions, bipartisanship in the House of Representatives massively decreased between 1949 and 2012. It often does not sound like bipartisanship is strong: Donald Trump has been accused of using “war rhetoric” about the 2020 presidential election.