BU LAW Congresswoman Barbara Jordan Speaker Series on Race, Law & Inequality: Nikolas Bowie, "The Problem of Entrenchment in a Democracy"

The United States Constitution was written in the name of "We, the People." But "the People" who were alive in 1787 passed away long ago. And most people who are alive now have never had a formal opportunity to participate in drafting, amending, or deciding what our fundamental law should look like in our own century. The US Constitution today is one of the most difficult to amend in the world.  In a democratic government of the people, by the people, for the people—one in which we, the living people, rule—how should we address the problem of rules written by our dead predecessors? If those rules are impossible to amend, must we still obey them? In the immortal words of Barbara Jordan, how can you or I ensure that we are included among “the People” who define the fundamental rules of our democracy?