A US-focused book but seeking to draw lessons from Europe and elsewhere on how to reverse what the authors see as the structural and constitutional bias towards minority government in the US.
The minoritarian institutions that they discuss are the Senate (equal representation overrepresents small states), the Supreme Court (appointed by often-minoritarian Presidents and confirmed by Senates that are usually not representing majorities), and the House of Representatives (seats being gerrymandered).
European constitutional flexibility is praised, with examples from Norway to Belgium, but the structures of the EU which risk repeating the mistakes of the US Constitution (particuarly in its inability to undertake constitutional reform) go unmentioned.
For policy makers:
- A 15-point plan for anti-minoritarian reform, useful in the US context but not so relevant for Europe.
- The need to maintain constitutional certainty and flexibility in balance.
- The need to protect the rule of law.
For citizens:
There is reference to movements for democracy alongside the existing civil liberties etc associations, but these are not as focused on constitutional change – the challenge as ever is how do you get the parties who are self-interested to change their prioritisation to handle constitutional reform.