Suchergebnisse

Konvitz reviews 'Covenant and Constitutionalism: The Great Frontier and the Matrix of Federal Democracy' and 'Covenant and Civil Society: The Constitutional Matrix of Modern Democracy,' both by Daniel J. Elazar.

Our political institutions are based on certain moral principles. Some are stated in the Constitution; others, unmentioned, are necessary to give "breathing space" to those enumerated. The freedoms expressly stated may be inter preted as expressions of even more fundamental values. And the Constitution also protects the traditions and collective conscience of our people. However, it is not enough for a nation to profess to be a democracy. Totalitarian states have made the same profession. A nation must look at the facts to estimate the degree to which it lives by its ideals. We have, on the one hand, our values, and, on the other, a con siderable amount of data which show how inadequately the values are fulfilled. There is an unconscionable lag of time between proof of malfunction and its cure. The problem is, then, to get the guardians of our goals to read the indicators. There are enough instances of honest governmental report ing to warrant the calculated risks of relying on it. We also have private watchdog organizations interested in civil liber ties, and their efficacy is shown in their record. Watchdogs —like the presidential veto—are built into our political system, and independent observers of our national scene also con tribute to raising our sights. However, there still remains a need for a privately financed organization for research into civil liberties.—Ed.