American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation-and Could Again

by Yuval Levin

Overview

“The most important voice in the political culture” (Ben Shapiro) reveals the Constitution’s remarkable power to repair our broken civic culture, rescue our malfunctioning politics, and unify a fractious America

Common ground is hard to find in today’s politics. In a society teeming with irreconcilable political perspectives, many people have grown frustrated under a system of government that constantly demands compromise. More and more on both the right and the left have come to blame the Constitution for the resulting discord. But the Constitution is not the problem we face; it is the solution. 
 
Blending engaging history with lucid analysis, conservative scholar Yuval Levin’s American Covenant recovers the Constitution’s true genius and reveals how it charts a path to repairing America’s fault lines. Uncovering the framers’ sophisticated grasp of political division, Levin showcases the Constitution’s exceptional power to facilitate constructive disagreement, negotiate resolutions to disputes, and forge unity in a fractured society. Clear-eyed about the ways that contemporary politics have malfunctioned, Levin also offers practical solutions for reforming those aspects of the constitutional order that have gone awry. 
 
Hopeful, insightful, and rooted in the best of our political tradition, American Covenant celebrates the Constitution’s remarkable power to bind together a diverse society, reassuring us that a less divided future is within our grasp. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465040742
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	06/11/2024
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	562,534
Product dimensions:	9.40(w) x 6.20(h) x 1.30(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Yuval Levin is the director of social, cultural, and constitutional studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he also holds the Beth and Ravenel Curry Chair in Public Policy. The founder and editor of National Affairs, he is also a senior editor at the New Atlantis, a contributing editor at National Review, and a contributing opinion writer at the New York Times. His previous books include The Fractured Republic and A Time to Build. A former member of the White House domestic policy staff under George W. Bush, he lives in Maryland. 

Editorial Reviews

"A learned interpretation of the Constitution as a document that creates unity as much as political structures....An affably contrarian reading of the Constitution that merits attention."—Kirkus

“Because we Americans have forgotten how to disagree with one another, forgotten how to collaborate and compromise, Yuval Levin contends, in clear and persuasive prose, that the United States Constitution offers us a welcome framework for promoting our desperately needed national unity. Indeed, no one has ever explained so authoritatively and so judiciously the significance of the Constitution for the health of our civic life as Levin has in this brilliant book. It is an extraordinary achievement.”—Gordon Wood, author of The Creation of the American Republic

“Yuval Levin may be the most important voice in the political culture right now. His serious, solutions-based thinking is an excellent corrective to the current moment, which is seemingly all about fostering division rather than rebuilding a common sense of purpose. His new book is a key part of the solution.”—Ben Shapiro, founding editor of The Daily Wire

“In an era where both sides of the political spectrum see each other as mortal enemies and endless bickering is the norm, Yuval Levin brilliantly teaches how the spirit and substance of the Constitution can soften our animosity and make our disagreements constructive. American Covenant is a clear and hopeful guide for a more dignified and unified America.”—Spencer Cox, Governor of Utah

“In his inspiring defense of the Constitution as a framework for national unity, Yuval Levin argues for a resurrection of the hopeful realism of James Madison. This is a brilliant and original work of political science and constitutional history that illuminates the sources of our current divisions and points the way to a more unified future.”—Jeffrey Rosen, president of the National Constitution Center

From the Publisher

2024-03-28
A learned interpretation of the Constitution as a document that creates unity as much as political structures.

Several recent books have held the Constitution to be a fundamentally flawed document, enshrining legal protections for the benefit of the slave states. Levin, author of The Fractured Republic, writes instead that the Constitution, read generously, affords a solution to reigning schisms: “It was designed with an exceptionally sophisticated grasp of the nature of political division and diversity, and it aims to create—and not just to occupy—common ground in our society.” Thus, the Constitution is not merely a legal framework but also the scaffolding for solidarity. Levin examines the Constitution along a “five-part framework,” four related to government and the fifth devoted to “union and unity.” The five are interrelated if sometimes in uneasy relationship to one another. For example, the constitutional mechanisms guaranteeing the rights of minorities against the tyranny of the majority enable such encumbering antiquities as the Electoral College. “Simple majoritarianism is of no use when there aren’t simple majorities,” writes the author, arguing that the net effect of these tensions is to require contending bodies to “act together when they don’t think alike…making civic unity more achievable.” Levin takes a prescriptive turn later in his discussion, suggesting that there are ways to improve a bogged-down legislature to return to the Constitution’s better angels. Congress is too much in the hands of party leaders who give junior members too little to do, which, the author writes, might be solved by giving congressional committees more power—especially those that concern the budget, which would foster bipartisan action and “depolarize spending debates a little.” Otherwise, Levin holds, parties will respond only to their bases and ignore the vast center—i.e., about what we have today.

An affably contrarian reading of the Constitution that merits attention.

Kirkus Reviews