Amendment Culture in the United States: On the Nature and Effects of “Constitutional Veneration”

Abstract

Political commentators have noted a peculiar aspect of present-day political dysfunction in the United States: Americans continue to “revere” the U.S. Constitution, even though the founding document itself is arguably responsible for many of the current political problems Americans so bemoan. On this telling, Americans’ tendency to view the Constitution as sacrosanct has significantly contributed to the precarious political moment by effectively foreclosing much needed constitutional reforms. Using a randomized experiment administered on the 2020 Cooperative Election Study (CES), the present study examines these claims by (a) identifying those most likely to “venerate” the U.S. Constitution and (b) testing the extent to which a sense of constitutional veneration disposes individuals against constitutional change. Our findings suggest that while not everyone can be said to venerate the Constitution, those who do exhibit a higher baseline level of resistance to constitutional amendment. Moreover, our treatment illustrates that a sense of constitutional reverence can be activated and made accessible to individuals as they consider constitutional issues and, in turn, bias them against proposed constitutional reforms. These findings suggest that constitutional veneration, to the extent it is widespread, may contribute to constitutional stasis and the problems associated with it.