U.S. Constitution Book Club
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In the Constitution Book Club, we’ll read the U.S. Constitution as people might have in the late 18th century: as a foundational document meant to define a nation. We’ll discuss it as they did, too: in a gathering, where we live, synchronously.
There will be no podcasts or books to guide us, no social media threads to host our discussion. Any internet presence for the Constitution Book Club will disable comments.
My hope is that this concept will grow. Its simple principles can be replicated anywhere:
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SMALL AND LOCAL: Each discussion happens in a public space, with one facilitator and no more than eight participants. Outreach and participation should remain within a small geographical area: a neighborhood, a census tract, a small town.
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OPEN AND WELCOMING: Gatherings are open to people of any political party or ideology. Established principles of healthy communication and mediation will guide discussions. Participants ought to be more interested in listening than in speaking. Each participant should feel equal ownership of the conversation.
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FOCUSED ON THE DOCUMENT: Discussion focuses on the U.S. Constitution as a document and its function as the supreme law of a democracy. Limiting the discussion to the document itself ought to act as a shield to misinformation, because the information under discussion will be on the page, right under the nose of each participant.
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CIVIL AND CONSIDERATE: Conversations are civil, with no one participant dominating. Everyone’s voice should be heard and respected. If you are fascinated by, or even just interested in, the U.S. Constitution, any person’s response to it ought to be fascinating or interesting, too.
Why am I doing this? Because our democratic institutions are failing. In a country with inadequate civics education where over half of the adult population has never read its founding document, I believe that failure can only accelerate. Our society continues to atomize and polarize, and community is vanishing. Why not create community around the very idea that defines our nation? Justice and liberty can flourish from such a foundation. They do not flourish within our current methods of political communication, to put it lightly.
I believe this is a simple and easily replicable idea that can create community and organize people to intelligently resist anti-democratic and anti-constitutional forces.