When the constitution of the United States was written science as we have known it in the 20th and 21st centuries did not exist. The authors of the constitution were merchants who were interested in protecting their wealth and way of life. That was their purpose.
Since the authors could not foresee the future they wrote the constitution to govern in the world as it existed at the end of the 18th century. Wisely they also provided a means to amend the document. Hence the term “Living Constitution” has evolved. You can find this term in Wikipedia along with the term originalism, the view that the constituion cannot be changed from its original intent. The Wikipedia discussion is extensive and is one that I have read elsewhere. I subscribe to the idea of the living constitution.
George W. Bush has enunciated his desire to bring democracy to all the world. He is a vocal supporter of democratic institutions. However, in the United States he was not elected by popular vote. He was elected by an electoral system that was part of the original constitution. President George W. Bush was selected by a majority of electors and that happened because the elector system provides for a “winner take all” process in each individual state.
As bad as the electoral system is, the United States does not have a formal legal process in place for the selection of candidates in each party. There is nothing in the Constitution about selecting party candidates. The process is part of our common law system that was started by England.
Here are the first three candidate selection elections in 2008.
January 3—Iowa Caucus
January 5—Wyoming Republican Caucus
January 8—New Hampshire Primary
The troubling part of this is that these three states have small populations and they, for the most part, do not reflect the large population centers of our country that are ethnically diverse.
The insiders that John Edwards talks about in his campaining have control of this situation. Articles on these subjects are now making the news. Nation Has Its Fill of Iowa-NH First is a good example <http://apnews.excite.com/article/20080101/D8TT8E280.html>. Changing the system will be a big challenge. Smaller states want to keep things as they are for both the primaries and the electoral college for just one reason. The have more influence on the out come.
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