Tomorrow (September 17) represents the 229th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. It being an election year (and an ugly one at that), and in an age when one can order nearly anything from their smartphone, our decision-making process seems frustratingly slow and dysfunctional.
Some might even think, “the Framers must be rolling over in their graves.” Yet perhaps slow is what the Framers had in mind, but why?
As I recall, Mr. Alexander (my high school history teacher) taught me that the Crown’s abuses of power were fresh memories for the Framers in 1787. So they created checks and balances by establishing three independent government branches. Furthermore, they built inefficiencies into the legislative process. The powers of each branch, “would be the means of keeping each other in their proper places,” wrote James Madison.
The Framers were also worried that the majority could use the government to oppress the rights of the minority. In response, the Framers empowered the minority by giving it tools to delay the legislative process. Madison envisioned a society “broken into so many parts, interests, and classes of citizens, that the rights of individuals, or of the minority, will be in little danger from interested combinations of the majority."
Back to the present – These are certainly tumultuous times and it’s human nature to expect Washington to quickly react to events. The Framers understood human nature and its implicit dangers. To protect future generations, they established an inefficient system fueled by citizen engagement. Today, our Constitution is the longest surviving written charter of government.
While the process may be slow, when people provide Congress with helpful input, Congress makes thoughtful, informed and deliberative decisions that represent an investment in the nation’s future.
Seth Turner is CMF’s Director of Citizen Engagement and a 20-year veteran in grassroots organizing.
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