21st Century Constitution

This website is for those who have come to realize that the current U.S. Constitution has many flaws, and has failed to ensure and protect a democratic form of government.  It is also a website for citizens of other countries to explore new ideas for a system of democratic government in their countries.

After a few questions about the kind of government provided under the current U.S. Constitution, a new Constitution is presented that guarantees a more democratic form of government by using random selection to place citizens in positions of government.

1.  Does the current U.S. Constitution guarantee that the President of the United States is the person selected by the majority?

2.  Does the current U.S. Constitution guarantee that senators and representatives are fairly representative of the citizens of the United States (e.g., are 50+% of the senators and representatives women)?

3.  Are presidents, senators, representatives, and high court judges chosen to serve the average citizen or the richest citizens?

4.  Are presidents, senators, representatives, and high court judges accountable for the decisions they make?

5.  Did President Donald Trump prove that the so called "system of checks and balances" does not exist as it applies to oversight of the executive branch of government?

6.  Does the current U.S. Constitution require that people who are not U.S. citizens receive the due process of law when placed under arrest?

7.  Does the current U.S. Constitution clearly state under all circumstances when military force may be used?

8.  Should the President of the U.S. have the power to pardon?

9.  Should the President of the U.S. have the power to veto legislation?

10.  Is it reasonable to expect that 1 U.S. representative can fairly represent the interests of 700,000+ citizens?

11.  Is the process of advise and consent of judicial nominees some kind of warped joke?

12.  Was the power of judicial review constitutionally allocated to the Supreme Court?

13.  Does the current U.S. Constitution guarantee that the Justice Department will not be used for partisan political purposes?

14.  Does the current U.S. Constitution include zygotes, embryos, and fetuses as U.S. citizens, entitled to the protection of the laws?

15.  If the current U.S. Constitution does not grant zygotes, embryos, and fetuses citizen status, should states be allowed to grant resident or citizen status to zygotes, embryos, and fetuses to which state laws may apply?

16.  Does the average U.S. citizen have any real say in the making of the laws by which they must live?

17.  Can the current U.S. Constitution be modified in any significant way given the specified amendment process?

18.  Is a Vice President really needed?

19.  Do oaths of office matter if there is no clear process for determining a violation of an oath of office or consequences for violating an oath of office if so determined?

20.  Under the current U.S. Constitution, does the impeachment process work as intended?

Let's consider what one stands to lose if the proposed constitution replaces the current constitution.  Everyone loses the right to vote (because positions in the three branches of government will be filled by random selection).  So, let's consider how much that matters.

1.  If you live in a gerrymandered voting district, how much does your vote really count for U.S. Representative?

2.  Given that you've never voted for President of the U.S. (you've voted for an elector), and you do not live in a state with proportional allocation of electors, how happy are you with the winner takes all allocation rule if you're sometimes in the 49% who voted for the losing presidential candidate in your state?

3.  How important do you think your vote is if you do not live in a "battleground" state?

4.  How happy are you with the voting process in your state?

5.  How happy are you with the primary process where political party elites and their wealthy backers select the candidates from which you get to choose?

6.  Do you look forward to the flood of campaign contribution solicitations every two years (and to a lesser extent in off-year elections)?

7.  Do you think political campaign spending in the hundreds of millions of dollars each election is money well spent considering that all you get for it is a decision-maker who owes their allegiance to their large campaign contributors?

8.  How much do you actually know about the people you vote for?

9.  How much do you trust that what a political candidate communicates to you during an election campaign is true ?

10.  Do you trust that a political candidate will do what they say during an election campaign if elected?

It is reasonable to conclude that giving up the vote and all that goes with it is not much to lose.

The following is a proposed 21st Century Constitution that provides a solution for those who think that the answer to some or all of the above questions is negative (except for questions 3, 5,  and 11).  It can be used as a constitutional framework for countries other than the United States of America.  There are many parameters in this constitution to which reasonable values have been assigned (e.g., minimum and maximum age limits for being a member of government) that are subject to modification as reason dictates.  In short, this constitution is intended to serve as a framework for evaluation, consideration, discussion, and modification.  It strongly applies the sortition process (random selection of citizens to government positions).  It is written in the format of the current U.S. Constitution.

Updated September 15, 2023: In Article V, section 7, typo corrected.  "Citizens" changed to "Non-Citizens".

Updated September 9, 2023 to remove Article I, Section I, Paragraph 1 clause e.

Updated August 9, 2023.  Updates made to Article I, Section II, Paragraph 18 regarding impeachment of the President and

Supreme Court Justices and the addition of Article III, Section II, Paragraph 8 pertaining to inferior court justices.  Article I, Section II, Paragraph 19 was added on August 2, 2023 to grant Congress the power to withdraw from treaties, a power that is not allocated in the current Constitution.

Updated October 17, 2023.  Article 1, section I, paragraph 2 was changed to specify 435 Representatives randomly selected from qualified citizens for consistency the with Reapportionment Act of 1929 and to avoid overcrowding in the Capitol building.

Updated November 1, 2023.  Article 2, section II, paragraph 12 was moved to paragraph 13.  A new paragraph 12 was inserted which states "The President may only declassify information for which a formal declassification procedure exists."

Updated January 26, 2024.  Several modifications were made, the most significant to Article 3 to provide for the replacement of Supreme Court Justices who resign, die, or are removed from office.  Supreme Court Justices are also required to render their decisions in writing, and they are prohibited from using references to unrelated court cases to disguise bias or prejudice in their decisions.  There is no such requirement in the currrent Constitution.  Also, Article I, Section II, Paragraph 16 was modified to assign to the Constitutional Council the authority to decide questions of the constitutionality of state laws and constitutions.

The following files contain a description of what the first days might be like under a new government established in accordance with the proposed Constitution.  There are many possible ways this may happen.  The intent is to demonstrate the feasibility of starting a government of this kind in anticipation of assertions that it is infeasible.

Standing Committees Required for Congress to function under the proposed Constitution:

Rules, Appropriations, Ways and Means

The functions of the current Committee on the Budget can be assumed by the Appropriations Committee.

Optional but Recommended Standing Committees:

Foreign Affairs, Armed Services, Energy and Commerce, Financial Services, Intelligence, Natural Resources, Science Space and Technology, Transportation and Infrastructure, House Administration

Science is combined with the Space and Technology Committee from the current Congress into the Science, Space, and Technology Committee.

Optional Standing Committees:

Immigration (replacing Homeland Security), Veterans Affairs, Small Business, Oversight and Accountability

Rationale:

The Rules Committee is required because Congress cannot function without rules of order.  The Appropriations Committee is required because Congress must allocate a budget for the operation of the federal government.  The Ways and Means Committee is required to propose and modify laws for taxation and for the borrowing of money to raise funds for the operation of government. 

Comments:

Congress may establish as many ad hoc committees as it deems necessary to address current events.

It is recommended that members of the three required committees be selected from an even mix of representatives with 1-2 years of service remaining and those with 3-4 years of service remaining.  There are currently 13 representatives on the Rules Committee, 60 on the Appropriations Committee, 37 on the Budget Committee, and 39 on the Ways and Means Committee.  It is assumed that the Congressional Budget Office will continue its function as specified by the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974.  One of the first acts of the first Congress under this Constitution would be to replace this act and subsequent acts that modified it to reflect the changes to the procurement process that will necessarily occur.

Draft Version of a sortition-based constitution for the European Union under development