A More Perfect Constitution: 23 Proposals to Revitalize our Constitution and Make America a Fairer Country
Walker and Co., October 2007
A More Perfect Constitution presents twenty-three creative and dynamic proposals to reinvigorate American governance. Combining idealism and pragmatism, Larry Sabato's thought-provoking ideas range from the structure of Congress, and length of the president's term to the number and terms of Supreme Court justices, the vagaries of the Electoral College, and a compelling call for universal national service -- all laced through with the history behind each issue and their potential impact on the lives of ordinary people.
In presenting his proposals, Sabato provides an invaluable civics lesson, peeling back the roof covering the workings of our political system, and allowing us to see the gears and levers meshing together; to see what parts of the machine need oil, and what parts need full-scale repair -- and to understand why. We therefore come to appreciate, over and over, what the founders of our system expected, as expressed in their own words -- that the Constitution would be revised generation by generation, updated to fulfill the needs of a growing nation.
Larry Sabato has the rare skill of making political science appealing and understandable to the masses. This no doubt comes from his thirty years in the classroom, where he has developed one of the most fertile and insightful political minds in the country. This book is, in many ways, the summation of his thinking on our political system during those thirty years.
hardcover | ISBN: 9780802716217 | Publication Date: October 2007
Reviews:
Publisher's Weekly
“Sabato, founder of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, ventures bravely into the controversial waters of constitutional reform…While there's room for skepticism and unintended consequences in some of his suggestions, Sabato makes strong, cogent arguments.”
Booklist
“Sabato’s thought-provoking book provides insights for an important debate.”
Library Journal
[Sabato’s proposals in A More Perfect Constitution] “are all interesting and well conveyed here. This is food for thought deserving a place in public libraries.”
From North Carolina's Charlotte Observer
[A More Perfect Constitution] “will launch an ambitious project. Sabato seeks to create a national discussion about changes needed to create a better Constitution, one suited to the needs of a 21st-century superpower that spans a
continent….These are controversial proposals, worthy of debate.”
From Instapundit.com
[Within the pages of A More Perfect Constitution] “there's something for
everyone here -- from expanding the U.S. Senate to term limits and a balanced
budget amendment.”
From Great Britain's The Independent
“Fascinating” writes British Journalist Rupert Cornell of A More Perfect
Constitution in a review for London’s, The Independent. “Sabato”
writes Cornell, “has some pretty ambitious retooling proposals to update the
Constitution without altering its essence and fundamental balance.”
