Review of How Democratic Is the American Constitution by Robert A. Dahl second edition - Book Report/Review Example

The book acts as a reminder. The reminder is the Constitution of American differs greatly from the democratic system only possible basis. It may however differ from the ideal script. Dahl considers the Constitution in the light of issues with consideration of the historical circumstances, which surrounded its creation. The Constitution later underwent alteration because of a democratic vacuum, but the Framers certainly had few illustrations to depend on during the establishment of a form of government that was democratic.

They clearly failed to achieve some respects. The most notable one was the treatment of slavery issue. It represented the undemocratic nature of the institution, which was beyond an individual’s imagination. As Dahl also illustrates in several other important respects, with several, contrary to slavery, remain unchanged over the past two hundred years and above.          Commencing with the Framers, Dahl meticulously does a nice job in vividly explaining the different aspects concerning historical roots.

Focus put especially to those that prevalently exist as undemocratic to the Constitution. Historically, it is worth recalling that the American democratic system was far from being democratic. Even as it is generally accepted and used, the recent past saw senators qualified for appointment by popular vote. It later faced opposition from the state legislatures during 1913. The Seventeenth Amendment voiced out the concerns of the minority in the society (Dahl, 2003). It included women too. In 1919, women’s rights became the issue and topic of discussion in the United States with particular quotations in the Nineteenth Amendment.

The 18 to 20 year-olds were included in the constitution in 1971 through the Twenty-Sixth Amendment. Other undemocratic areas and aspects remain unhandled and untouched. Dahl explains convincingly that it becomes unlikely to alter, for instance the disproportionate US