Written constitutions
Alan Carter wrote from Oxford (UK not Mississippi) with an idea about using a debate over written constitutions as a way of teaching about the roles of supreme law. Thank you, Alan.He wrote, "Up to now, I've supported the idea of a new fully written constitution for the U.K. as providing a level playing field, less open to possible abuse... [and] more separation of powers." For an example of abuse, he cites the transfer of power from Blair to Brown without an election.
He also notes that a written constitution allows for less flexibility. If, as Secretary Paulson hinted that 'the ATM machines might stop in working in few weeks time,' maybe campaigning should be suspended, as John McCain suggested. However, the constitution won't allow that kind of adaptation to the situation. The absence of a written constitution in the UK means that political leaders can adjust things to fit the times.
In Britain, PM Brown's popular support vanished recently. Normally that would mean a change in Labour leadership or a new election. Either is possible in the British system. Now, it seems that PM Brown has regained some of the popularity he lost in the past month. Maybe an election is not necessary. That's allowed in the British regime as well.
The story of Brown's rising popularity was reported by Yahoo UK & Ireland:
Brown gets poll boost after speech
"Prime Minister Gordon Brown has halved the Conservatives' lead in the polls following his speech to a conference of the Labour Party on Tuesday, according to a survey published on Wednesday.
"The YouGov poll for the Sun newspaper put Labour on 31 points, 10 points behind the Conservatives. Last week the gap in a YouGov poll was 20 points.
"A 10-point lead would still hand the Conservatives a majority in parliament, but Brown will be relieved to see the gap narrowing after a slew of surveys over the past few months suggested Labour could be wiped out...
"Unless he is ousted by his own party, Brown, 57, does not have to call an election until mid-2010."
The next day, Eric Black, a Minneapolis journalist whose work I have admired wrote,
"I have actually wondered over the last couple of years about the wisdom of our system, which virtually guarantees the president (absent an impeachable offense) a four-year term even if he has lost the confidence of the public and the Congress in the first year or two. Parliamentary systems have a quicker way to deal with such situations. This is not a moment to consider structural change, but it's worth discussing someday..."
Now, create a debate topic.
For instance, "Resolved that a written constitution is the best way to guarantee democratic government."
Brainstorm with your students about ideas the support or contradict the resolution.
Put small groups of students to work researching those ideas.
Then have the each of sides choose a couple debaters and have a debate. Invite the principal in to judge the debate (you might want to brief the principal a little bit on the topic). Have fun.
Labels: concepts, constitution, pedagogy
posted by Ken Wedding @ 6:10 AM
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