Constitution cafe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Constitution cafe - Essay Example The discussions are based on Thomas Jefferson, a radical who held the belief that there was the need to keep on revising the Constitution. As outlined in the book, periodic amendment of the Constitution can be regarded as essential since it keeps the constitution in line with the changing times. Phillips contends that the Constitution has become an immutable as well as a sacred text, which needs some shaking up or some review (Phillips 1–336). In the book, Phillips argues that respect of the United States’ Constitution forms a key phenomenon of modern political life in America. According to Phillips, the Constitution is the basis upon which the rights of the U.S. citizens can be understood. Across the political spectrum, it has become the last argument of politicians and the secular scripture has it as the moral gravity. The book explains the desire of the third American president, Thomas Jefferson, that Americans should rewrite the Constitution after every twenty years in order to enable them to meet their needs. The radical ideas of Jefferson are put to the test by Phillips, who asks Americans to create a new Constitution that will serve their needs (Phillips 1–336). Throughout the book, the main idea that Phillips strives to pass focuses on how the American public could rewrite the United States’ Constitution. The book involves a series of discussions, which engage various groups coming together and focussing on various Articles and Amendments. For example, there are teenagers who talk about the amendment of age at which people should vote, and lawyers discussing the patent clause. Each of the groups involved comes up with new Articles, which have the aim of redressing problems of the existent Constitution. The author also discusses the historical interludes regarding the conflicts among the Founding Fathers; this highlights the compromises as well as difficulties that were needed in 1783 (Phillips 1–336). In the book, Phillips portrays