Slate Daily Feed Amicus | How To Fix Our Broken Constitution
Sep 6, 2025
Jill Lepore, an esteemed historian and law professor at Harvard, discusses the urgent need to reimagine the U.S. Constitution amidst today's political polarization. She emphasizes the importance of the amendment process as a tool for societal renewal and reflects on underrepresented voices in constitutional history. The conversation also critiques the current state of presidential power, advocates for public engagement in constitutional discourse, and the necessity for a living Constitution that adapts to modern governance.
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Constitution As A Living Repair Tool
- Jill Lepore argues the Constitution was intended to be amendable and malleable rather than frozen in originalist stone.
- She says amendment once served as a civic repair mechanism to prevent violence and political breakdown.
Originalism's Narrow Historical Lens
- Lepore contrasts historians' methods with originalists' narrow selection of founding texts and sources.
- She argues originalism artificially fences in the record and ignores a much broader historical archive.
Family Constitutional Conventions
- Lepore describes annual family 'constitutional conventions' where her children renegotiated household rules.
- She used that vernacular practice to teach civic amendment and bargaining to her kids.
