The United States Constitution as Social Compact

If the un-enfranchised majority of the population were not part of "the people" entitled to participate in instituting government, surely they were among the governed. Since they had no vote, in what sense did they consent? [...]we have become a democracy. Yet natural, inherent rights cree...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 2017-07, Vol.107 (4), p.43-51
Main Author: Henkin, Louis
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bill of Rights-US
Consent
Constitution-US
Constitutional law
Political theory
Politics
Principles
Slavery
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Summary:If the un-enfranchised majority of the population were not part of "the people" entitled to participate in instituting government, surely they were among the governed. Since they had no vote, in what sense did they consent? [...]we have become a democracy. Yet natural, inherent rights creep in, notably when the courts read the clause forbidding government to deprive a person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law as imposing substantive limitations. (The first ten amendments, the Bill of Rights, were the price of ratification, ar.d in a real sense form part of the original package; except for the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments-the peace treaty of the Civil War. which abolished slavery, reshaped our Federalism, and extended protection for individual rights-constitutional amendments have not been fundamental.) If the Constitution is a social contract, if it is our social contract tocay, it is because "we the people" reordain our Constitution, informally, continually.
ISSN:0065-9746
2325-9264