Ep. 8: Michael Klarman on the Constitution's Origins and Contemporary Problems

Luke talks with Michael Klarman, an American historian and constitutional scholar who has written several books, including From Jim Crow to Civil Rights (2004) and The Framers’ Coup (2016). Klarman covers many topics, including the political interests involved in the drafting of the Constitution, differences between the more democratic state constitutions and the federal Constitution, the Seventh Amendment and “self-legalization,” current efforts to change the Supreme Court, violations of the principle of one person, one vote, and teaching constitutional law and history in our contemporary moment. Klarman does an excellent job presenting our immense conundrum caused by the Constitution’s undemocratic features and useless amendment clause. As he notes, by 2040, some 30 percent of the U.S. population will be represented by 70 senators, while the other 70 percent will be represented by only 30. Imagining that any privileged state will simply give up its power (as Article V requires) is silly. And that’s only one example.