About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 1 (March 4, 2022)

handle is hein.amenin/aeiaegp0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Key Points The stuiElity of the Consutuion promotes reverence among the public, which in turn facilitates social order. hs suggests that conservatives shoutd be hesitant to amend the Constitution, for freeuent al erations in the oeiginal charter wou d make it seem fleeti n and less worthy of esteer. Amendmrrent will at times be necessary, and history sugeests several basic themes for when and why the Constitution should be amended. e Drawnvr on Ir0ights rn philosophy and history, this report promotes a six-pcint rubric to evaluate proposed amendments rorn a conservative perspective. The theme of this series is that the. United Statcs Constitution is a good instr ment of governmt, e worthy of defense. it is nor perfect, of course, but perfection is unattainable in govrnnent. To bor- row a concept from James Madison, men are not angels and thus are incapable of designing a faw- less onstitut ion So, we should appreciate a con- stitution that works as ell as ours does. But this does not require conservatives to reject any and all alterations to the constitutional regime. Indeed, the Constitution 1has been amended some 27 tines, and moSt Of these amnwdments have been for the better. 'lht raises the question: When and how should conservatives support amend- ments to the Constitution? This report will present general rules that can serve as a framework for conservatives to evaluate whether to enact pro- posed amendments, Toe conservative mind places a high valne on con- stitutional stability, viewing it as essential to the social order. Conservatives are sensitive to the considerations discussed in the first report in this series-----namely, -hat humans are not to be trusted to remaie society out of whole cloth. Humans are, as Alexander Hamilnon once put it, rather reason- ing than reasonable animals for the most part gov- erned by the impulse of passion.2 The mainte- nance of society thus depends on not only neces- sity and natural inclination, as David Hume argued, but also habit.3 Specifically, per Hume:

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most