In a time when American politics has become a spectator sport often viewed with a cynical eye by the people, it is needful to be reminded that our freedom entails a civic responsibility to preserve the legal document that gives us that freedom, the United States Constitution.
The Constitution is a contract to which all citizens are parties and upon which they have a right to rely. The people have as well the right to protect themselves from interpretations that go unreasonably beyond the original intent of the Framers. It is clear that in the past the Constitution has been abused to justify decisions made by the legislative and judicial branches of government (as in the
Dred Scott
case) that have since been overturned. Decisions that extend the powers of the federal government beyond the expressly stated limits declared in the Constitution continue to occur today and remain subjects of intensely debated contention.
This book gives detailed examples of where Congress and the Supreme Court have gone outside the people's mutual contract and have, in effect, amended the Constitution. The last chapter outlines a procedure by which citizens, voting directly, can overrule or repeal amendments made by elements of their government.