Twenty years after Constitution Day (observed yesterday) became law as a day to reflect on our Constitution and our “responsibilities and opportunities as citizens,” we live in a nation of collapsing civic trust, increased political violence, and casual questioning of constitutional norms.
One big reason for this: Political spending is out of control and billionaire spending and dark money groups saturate our elections. They spend record amounts each cycle influencing the outcome of races, and politicians are beholden to checks — and the donors writing them — to stay in office.
Eighty percent of Americans believe their representatives no longer represent their interests because of the influence of campaign donors and lobbyists. A similar percentage — of both Republicans and Democrats — say money in politics is the biggest threat to democracy.
Reducing money’s influence is the third-most important priority to Americans in 2024 (ahead of immigration, crime, climate, the budget, and other concerns).
The Constitution holds the solution.
Citizen power
Perhaps the most powerful and vital citizen power in the Constitution is the process for amendment in Article V. It is the method that, in Thomas Jefferson’s words, empowers “the people themselves” to have the final say about the Constitution, how we govern ourselves, and whether we will be free.
The Constitution we know today did not simply emerge in full from the Philadelphia Convention in 1787 — it is one that Americans have amended 27 times, in sweeping waves of “amendment eras” that occur about every half century. Americans repeatedly demanded and got the necessary two-thirds vote in Congress and ratification votes in three-quarters of the states, to update the Constitution for new times and needs.
With these amendment cycles, Americans secured the Bill of Rights, abolished slavery, enfranchised all citizens, and required term limits for presidents and elections for senators, among much else. Eight amendments overturned Supreme Court decisions in favor of better interpretations of the Constitution.
It has been a half-century since the last amendment era ended in the 1970s. Now the need and opportunity for citizen-driven Constitution shaping is urgent once again.
A necessary amendment
Some pundits have pronounced the Constitution “unamendable” and say Americans are too hopeless and divided to do the long, hard work of getting the Senate to pass the amendment and the states to ratify it. They’re wrong. Today’s challenges require, and are summoning, a reinvigorated amendment movement as Americans demand more control over our government.
A constitutional amendment is necessary because Americans never asked for elections dominated by an elite donor class with the power of unlimited spending. For 200 years, Americans had the power to limit money influence over candidates, office-holders, and elections — and we used that power.
But then the Supreme Court adopted a too-clever lawyer theory that money is free speech in cases like 2010’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. That and other decisions stripped away our power to protect the integrity of the electoral process. The ability to speak one’s mind is a cherished freedom, but to equate free expression with the power to dominate elections with billions of dollars is wrong, and Americans know it.
The most urgent and advanced movement to amend the Constitution is the For Our Freedom Amendment, which would restore power to states and Congress to enact reasonable limits on money in campaigns. Twenty-two states have passed resolutions in support, hundreds of candidates have pledged support, and 76% of Americans and a durable supermajority has consistently supported this amendment for more than a decade.
Pennsylvania’s chance
Pennsylvania now has a chance to join the cross-partisan movement backing the For Our Freedom Amendment. The State House voted for a resolution in support of the amendment in June. Should the State Senate pass a similar resolution, Pennsylvania would become the 23rd state to support the amendment.
The Constitution’s amendment process is a tested, successful tool to bring the government closer to the people it’s supposed to serve. At a time when out-of-control election spending is pulling us apart, the For Our Freedom Amendment can unite us, while realigning the loyalty of elected officials from the donors to constituents.
Let’s honor the drafters at the original Philadelphia Convention, the generations of Americans who added to the Constitution, and our own responsibilities and opportunities as citizens, by committing to preserving our republic and returning a government of “we the people.”
Jeff Clements is the CEO of American Promise.
First Published: September 18, 2024, 9:30 a.m.