It’s Time To Rewrite The U.S. Constitution

The Constitution of the United States was written in 1787. That’s a long time ago.

The U.S. Constitution does not reflect the current values and needs of a majority of Americans.

It’s time to rewrite the Constitution of the United States of America.

Not Democratic

The U.S. Constitution was not written democratically by and for a majority of Americans.

It was written by 55 delegates at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. The 55 delegates were chosen by individual state governments, not by a national popular vote.

At the time, state legislatures were elected by a very limited group of electorates who were mostly white, property-owning men. The Delegates were overwhelmingly:

• White
• Male
• Property-Owning
• Economically Elite
• Owners of Land, Businesses, and/or Enslaved People
• Most were trained as lawyers or deeply involved in commerce.

No one from the following groups participated in writing the U.S. Constitution:

• Women
• Enslaved People
• Free Black Americans
• Indigenous Peoples
• Poor White Men
• Non-Property Owners

We Can Do Better

We the people can write a better Constitution. A new U.S. Constitution that is truly “democratic.”

Who Initiates the Process

Old Constitution (1787)

• Initiated by state political elites
• Purpose: revise the Articles of Confederation
• Convention exceeded its mandate and wrote an entirely new constitution
• Authority flows top-down from state legislatures

New Constitution (2026)

• Initiated by mass political mobilization
• Central demand of social movements and people 1st organizations
• A mandate to refound the state
• Authority flows bottom-up through elections and popular referendums

Who Selects the Constitution Writers

Old Constitution (1787)

• State legislatures appointed delegates
• No popular vote for delegates
• Legislatures themselves elected by wealthy, land owning elites
• Result: a narrow, elite-filtered group

New Constitution (2026)

• Delegates elected by popular vote
• Hold national elections to choose Constituent Assembly members
• Encourage indigenous peoples, ethnic minorities, workers, rural communities, and women participate directly
• Reserved mechanisms to ensure popular representation

Who Actually Writes The Text

Old Constitution (1787)

• 55 Privately Selected Delegates
• Overwhelmingly:
  • White
  • Male
  • Wealthy
  • Property Owners
• Slaveholders, Merchants, Lawyers, and/or Financiers
• No representation from the majority of the population.

New Constitution (2026)

• Constituent Assembly of 255 members
• Included:
  • Indigenous Leaders
  • Minority Leaders
  • Labor Representatives
  • Women (in significant numbers)
• Representation of a majority of the population, not just elites.

Participation During Drafting

Old Constitution (1787)

• Proceedings held in secret
• No public debates or consultation during drafting.
• Text released only after completion.
• Public influence limited to ratification phase.

New Constitution (2026)

• Public process that’s contested and participatory.
• Includes:
  • Public Hearings
  • Social Movement Pressure
  • Popular Street Mobilizations
• Drafting occurs via open political process & debate.

Ratification

Old Constitution (1787)

• Ratified by state conventions
• Voters for conventions restricted to property owners and white men.
• Ratification threshold was lowered from unanimous consent to just 9 of 13 states.
• Legitimacy determined by elites.

New Constitution (2026)

• Ratified by a national referendum.
• One Person, One Vote (Corporations are not people.)
• Public Campaign Financing (No corporate or private contributions.)
• Constitution approved by a clear popular majority.
• Legitimacy explicitly popular and electoral.

Role of Conflict

Old Constitution (1787)

• Elite fear of:
  • Popular Uprisings (e.g., Shays’ Rebellion)
  • Debt Relief Movements
  • Excess Democracy
• Constitution designed to protect governance from mass popular pressure.

New Constitution (2026)

• Constitution born from conflict:
  • Indigenous Exclusion
  • Concentration of Land Ownership
  • Mass Privatization
• A process that embraces conflict as democratic negotiation, not a threat.

View of “The People”

Old Constitution (1787)

• “The People” are defined narrowly in practice.
• Popular sovereignty gets filtered and diluted through institutions.
• Democracy is intentionally slowed and constrained.

New Constitution (2026)

• “The People” are defined collectively and pluralistically.
• Recognize and promote Indigenous nations as political actors.
• Recognize and promote Minority groups as political actors.
• Recognize and promote Workers as political actors.
• Recognize and promote Women as political actors.
• Expand Democracy to include collective and communal participation.

One-Sentence Contrast

• The U.S. Constitution was written by elites for “the people” who were defined as elites.
• The New American Constitution will be written by “the people” who are defined collectively as ALL individual citizens of the land—which does not include corporations or other entities, to restructure the state and enact new priorities.

Where Do We Start?

Back in 2009, with the election of Evo Morales as President—the first indigenous Bolivian to be elected to that office, Bolivia wrote a new constitution. We can draw from their example.

Here’s how a New American Constitution might start:

We, the American people, of plural composition and in all our diversity, drawing strength from the depths of our history; inspired by the struggles of Indigenous peoples; by resistance to colonial domination; by slave uprisings and the long fight against racial injustice; by the Civil Rights movement; by the courage and perseverance of immigrants; by the struggles of workers for fair wages and dignity; by social and labor movements; and by the defense of land, community, and territory; in memory of our martyrs, and with a firm commitment to justice, equality, shared well-being, and democracy, we refound the State.

A State based on respect and equality for all, on principles of sovereignty, dignity, interdependence, solidarity, harmony, and equity in the distribution and redistribution of the social wealth, where the search for a good life predominates; based on respect for the economic, social, juridical, political and cultural pluralism of the inhabitants of this land; and on collective coexistence with access to land, water, work, education, health and housing for all.

Better already, right!?

We need a new constitution. And by "we” I mean anyone who sees they would be better served living in a country governed by a constitution that starts like the one I sketched out above. And while that “we” may not be all of us, I bet it includes a large majority of us. And that’s democracy.

A New Day. A New Constitution.

In this moment, we must focus our attention on core features of our society that we can change, and which will deliver the greatest impact.

It’s time to rewrite the U.S. Constitution.

That is something we can all stand for... and benefit from.