Beware, Constitutions Can Change Your Life

Constitutions are not boring documents. Instead, they outline rights for citizens, directing leaders and giving continuity to problem solving. A constitution "defines our liberties and the relationship between people and the state, the governed and the government," writes Philip Johnston for the Telegraph, in an essay that addresses concerns about such a document for the EU. Membership in the EU has transferred sovereignty over many matters from the continent's state capitals to Brussels. Citizens expect accountability from their leaders and some level of control over issues through elections and contact with representatives, and some analysts question if ordinary citizens have the information and legal tools to wield influence and demand accountability from a regional government such as the EU. "When so much of our law is decided by people beyond any influence that we can exert, then the old constitutional order really has broken down," Johnston concludes. Governments increasingly confront problems regional and even global in scope. Citizens who give up trying to understand the layers or potential of government risk losing control of their destiny. – YaleGlobal