Aziz Rana, "The Constitutional Bind: How Americans Came to Idolize a Document That Fails Them" (U Chicago Press, 2024)
Jun 19, 2024
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Aziz Rana explores how Americans revere the Constitution but overlook its flaws, impacting global power dynamics. He discusses the need for diverse voices in constitutional conversations and advocates for unity through coalition building for political change.
The idolization of the US Constitution in the twentieth century is linked to the rise of US global dominance, leading to interventionist national security abroad.
Rana highlights the exclusion of diverse movement activists in shaping constitutional horizons, providing essential insights for reimagining constitutional reform.
The book challenges historical interpretations of constitutional reform movements, advocating for broader inclusion of voices and perspectives in constitutional debates.
Deep dives
Challenging the Veneration of the US Constitution
The episode delves into the critical analysis provided by Professor Aziz Rana in his book 'The Constitutional Bind'. Rana questions the prevailing credal veneration of the US Constitution, highlighting profound anti-democratic flaws. He critiques the malapportionment of the Senate, electoral college, and their impacts on representation. Rather than muddling through, he explores how Americans came to idealize the Constitution despite its failures, emphasizing the need to reevaluate the country's constitutional system.
Historical Context and Global Authority
Rana's book places the rise of US constitutional veneration against a backdrop of global transition, from a settler polity to a superpower. He notes the US's emergence as a global power post World War II and the impact on constitutional reverence. The book traces the imperialist democratic commitments shaping US identity and global influence, emphasizing the interplay between national identity and constitutional meaning amidst the backdrop of decolonization.
Reframing Reconstruction and Constitutional Interpretation
Rana reexamines Reconstruction, considering it not as a constitutional zenith but a pivotal moment reflecting the failures of American constitutionalism. Drawing on scholars like W.E.B. Du Bois, he critiques the Constitution's inadequacies in addressing racial authoritarianism and minority rule. The book challenges traditional interpretations of US constitutional reform movements, highlighting the need to confront historical gaps and structural biases.
Expanding Constitutional Discourse and Representation
Rana advocates for broader inclusion in constitutional debates, moving beyond traditional legal circles and academic barriers. He emphasizes the importance of expanding constitutional memory to encompass diverse voices and perspectives traditionally excluded from mainstream discussions. By challenging the dominance of legal elites in constitutional discourse, Rana seeks to enrich the conversation and foster a more inclusive understanding of constitutional principles.
Towards Transformative Institutional Politics
Rana advocates for transformative institutional politics grounded in social movements and institutional reforms. He calls for the reclamation of freedom through bolstering intermediate institutions as sites of politics and change. By emphasizing institutions as crucial components of democratic transformation, Rana underscores the need for institutional power-building in reshaping constitutional narratives and advancing collective democratic objectives.
In a pathbreaking retelling of the American experience, Aziz Rana shows that today’s reverential constitutional culture is a distinctively twentieth-century phenomenon. Rana connects this widespread idolization to another relatively recent development: the rise of US global dominance. Ultimately, such veneration has had far-reaching consequences: despite offering a unifying language of reform, it has also unleashed an interventionist national security state abroad while undermining the possibility of deeper change at home.
Revealing how the current constitutional order was forged over the twentieth century, The Constitutional Bind: How Americans Came to Idolize a Document That Fails Them(U Chicago Press, 2024) also sheds light on an array of movement activists—in Black, Indigenous, feminist, labor, and immigrant politics—who struggled to imagine different constitutional horizons. As time passed, these voices of opposition were excised from memory. Today, they offer essential insights that Rana reconstructs to forward an ambitious and comprehensive vision for moving past the constitutional bind.
Aziz Rana is a Professor and Provost’s Distinguished Fellow at Boston College Law School and the incoming J. Donald Monan, S.J., University Professor of Law and Government (beginning 2024).
Vatsal Naresh is a Lecturer in Social Studies at Harvard University. He is the editor of Negotiating Democracy and Religious Pluralism (OUP 2021) and Constituent Assemblies (CUP 2018).
