Donald Trump recently said he wasn’t sure if a president is obligated to uphold the Constitution—a striking admission from someone who’s twice sworn an oath to do just that. Trump’s disregard for the Constitution’s principles poses a serious threat to American democracy. At the same time, this moment invites deeper reflection on the document itself: What exactly are we defending, and does the Constitution deserve the near-sacred status it's acquired in American political life?
In this episode of THINK BACK, I talk with Aziz Rana, professor of law and government at Boston College and author of The Constitutional Bind: How Americans Came to Idolize a Document That Fails Them (2024). We explore how the Constitution has historically limited democracy, from its roots in elite counterrevolution to its Cold War-era transformation into a quasi-religious symbol of American exceptionalism. Rana’s work urges us to revisit older debates about the Constitution’s flaws—once common in American life—and the urgent need for reform or reinvention.
This is a wide-ranging, slightly more academic conversation than some past episodes, but one I found incredibly rewarding. Rana’s insights help us think beyond Trump’s attacks to the deeper structural issues in our political system—and offer a glimpse of how this moment might mark not just a crisis, but the beginning of democratic renewal. As always, thanks for listening and supporting THINK BACK.
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