Cameron’s Top 10 Constitutional Changes

Cameron's Top 10 Constitutional Changes

What would I do if I could wave a magic wand and change the U.S. Constitution? This was a reader question that was asked of me on Instagram Live. I do go live on Instagram from time to time but rarely on my account. On the bright side, if you follow me there, you can get news headlines, interesting pictures, an occasional selfie, and notifications for when I go live with various people.

Here are my ten U.S. Constitutional changes that I would choose to implement if I ever had the power to do so:

Cameron’s Changes

Expand Congress

Our national assembly is rather small by international standards. When you compare the U.S. Congress to France or the U.K., We haven’t expanded Congress since 1912, and the last time any new members were added was when Alaska and Hawaii were added to the union in the 1950s. The population has exploded since the early 20th century, and it’s time that Congress reflected that change. That might require some remodelling of the Capitol building, but we could easily double the size of Congress, and it would be more representative of the people. One representative can effectively represent about 100,000 people. Most Congress people represent around 500,000 or so. Instead of only 435 members, it should have just under 1,000.

Add a third senator

The U.S. Senate has been widely criticized for being undemocratic. Why should Wyoming, with 250,000 people, get as much power in the Senate as California, with 55 million? The answer is simple: Madisonian federalism. Madison wanted one chamber where all the states, big and small, would be equal. I think that is an important function and should be maintained, but all states should have an additional Senator and expand the Senate by 1/3, bringing it up to 150.

Ranked choice voting

This is an important change. It would be much more effective for 3rd parties to run effectively if there were ranked choice voting where people could vote for the people they wanted rather than be forced into an unfair binary. In Ranked choice, your vote for the candidates and rank from most wanted to least, and if your top choice doesn’t get enough votes, then your vote goes to the second choice until someone gets 50%. This would be valuable in both Congress and the Presidency.

Regional Congresses

The Pandemic showed how important it is for states to work together to solve problems that can’t necessarily be solved completely at the federal level. I think it’s time to have permanent regional political entities that coordinate state resources, form interstate compacts, and help solve federal issues. States can also come together to solve problems in their regional community to ease barriers between them.

Supreme Court Term Limits

The time for a lifetime Supreme Court justice has passed. In the 18th century, when people did not live as long, this made much more sense than it does now. I think having sensible term limits of at least 20-30 years would be enough to keep the Supreme Court out of politics and the court changing and staying up to date with younger justices.

End confirmation role of the Senate in Cabinet Appointees

I understand that the Founding Fathers wanted Congress to get a say in who the President appointed to the Supreme Court, the Cabinet and other political positions. However, it has become a way for the Senate to control presidential appointments rather than to fulfill its role of “advice and consent.” This process gets mired in politics and should be ended. The president should be able to surround themselves with the people they see fit to work with rather than beg the Senate for permission.

Split powers between Speaker and President

Much like the Roman proconsul system, I think some of the president's powers should be removed to the Speaker of the House, particularly on domestic matters. I think the President would do a better job working on international relations and military matters. Regarding domestic policy and implementation, the Speaker of the House is closer to the problems, the policy, and the solutions. It would also increase the oversight potential of the House of Representatives.

Add international standards (human rights, war crimes, trade)

One of the things our Constitution lacks is basic treaties on human rights, the handling of war crimes, and policies on trade. This is an area where we need modernization to align our legal system with the international one. I would add all of these treaties to the U.S. Constitution. There would be a raft of lawsuits and new case law coming out of any such move, but it would be worth it to align the American legal system with the rest of the world so that we are accountable to the international community.

Update national election systems with required standards

If the elections of 2016 and 2020 proved one thing: states should not have the sole power to run elections. They make a mess of the whole thing (looking at you, Florida), so we should have basic federal standards on voting. The fact that the Biden administration hasn’t pushed harder for the John Lewis Voting Rights bill is a terrible oversight on their part. But I would have new standards for voting access as a basic right enshrined into the Constitution. It is an important change.