WILL THAULT: The power of ‘We the People’

If the U.S. Constitution had originally appeared in book form, “We the People” surely would’ve been its title, for these words appear in very large, boldface script more than five times the size of the rest of the main text in the actual document. On this date, 236 years ago, the U.S. Constitution was drafted, ratified the following year and implemented in 1789, making it the oldest of its kind and a guiding pattern for newly formed or reformed governments even to this day.

And what promises did our Constitution guarantee to its people? It’s all summarized in the Preamble: “… (I)n order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity …”

Lofty words, followed by a novel, some might say divinely inspired, governing approach, creating a separation of powers through a system of checks and balances, clearly defined protections of individual rights and liberties, the rule of law, judicial review and the limits of a centralized authority. In fact, by providing a system for three separate but equal branches of government — legislative, executive and judicial, — the document created a kind of ongoing American constitutional convention, assuring national dialogue and conflict resolution.

This balance of leadership was meant to minimize abuse, encourage stability and guard against absolute tyranny. Even so, there are those throughout history who have and will always be tempted by power, greed and corruption, to game the system and bend the rules to their advantage. But the self-protecting guardrails of the Constitution have always prevailed and the corruptible have and will ultimately pay the price for their deceit.

Another clever device built into our Constitution was a procedure for adding amendments when ratified by the States, beginning with the Bill of Rights. The founders knew that future needs and necessary adjustments couldn’t be foretold within a single document. That’s why this method of constitutional change provides a means to refine the original without discarding it and starting from scratch again.

Arguably, the U.S. Constitution is the first and most well-known of our many American-made exports, whose intellectual properties have actually increased in value as other nations have innovated, duplicated or outright stolen our blueprint for self-rule.

For the very first time in recorded history, this newly invented federal structure called the U.S. Constitution became a template for how local and central powers could be reconciled. Remarkably, our “We the People” perspective has left its mark on many constitutions to follow in countries such as France, Portugal, Spain, Poland, Australia, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, and dozens more. The primary reason for its great influence abroad is that it showed a way to institutionalize government, based on the sovereignty of its people over their leadership instead of the other way around.

Even regimes whose philosophical outlook is antidemocratic have borrowed language from our Constitution, in order to legitimatize their authority under the cloak of democratic respectability. They’re playing with fire though. Give your people the slightest whiff of freedom or liberty, and you never know what might happen next.

Our governor has proclaimed Sept. 17 and the week following Constitution Week in the state of Georgia. We were the fourth state in the union to ratify the Constitution when delegates Abraham Baldwin and William Few signed the document on Jan. 2, 1788. Knowing the importance of higher learning, these men went on to help found the University of Georgia and led to the birth of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

Celebrating the Declaration of Independence marks the day that we officially severed our ties with England. Celebrating Constitution Day reminds us of when the fundamental principles of this nation were published for all the world to see.

So what was it about this document of our fledgling little nation that captivated and inspired the world? If you were to reveal its secret sauce, it’d simply boil down to one main ingredient that makes it taste so sweet: We the People.