TOPIC #8 — DEMOCRACY AND THE CONSTITUTION

Though the Constitution was very controversial when it was proposed, and its ratification was a close thing, it quickly achieved a high degree of legitimacy in American public and elite opinion. Indeed, by the end of the 19^th century, the Constitution was venerated and almost above criticism. However, this changed in the early 20^th century when a number of historians and political scientists — most famously Charles Beard (An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution, 1913) — advanced a number of arguments that were quite critical of the Constitution and its framers. Beard made two broad assertions:

          (a)      the framers constituted a distinctive economic elite and, in designing the Constitution, were importantly motivated to protect their own property interests; and

          (b)      accordingly, the Constitution contains many anti-democratic elements and embodied a “conservative” counter-revolution against the “democratic spirit” of the Declaration of Independence (which the Antifederalists better upheld).

The second assertion is our present concern. You should examine major provisions of the Constitution and consider the following questions. The first three questions are general.

Q1.     Which provisions might be judged to be anti-democratic in nature?

Q2.     Which provisions might be judged to be pro-democratic in nature?

Q3.     Which provisions appear to be permissive in nature, in that they might be implemented in either a more or less democratic manner?

Here are some more specific questions.

Q4.     How do the provisions of the Constitution compare with those of typical state constitutions of the time (as discussed briefly in Topic 4)?

Q5.     Is the Constitution “popular” in nature, or does it create a “mixed regime” (like Britain at that time)? If “popular,” is it “republican” or “democratic” in nature?

Q6.     What property and other qualifications did the Constitution establish for holding, and voting for, federal offices?

Q7.     Which of these (pro-democratic or anti-democratic) provisions were incorporated over the opposition of the Antifederalists and which as concessions to them?