The US constitution is outdated and vulnerable. Modern constitutions like Germany’s basic law are a lot more resilient. We are watching the US constitution fail right now, it didn’t even take smart men to start dismantling it. I hope I’ll be proven wrong, but what indications do you see right now that the US constitution is performing as intended?

▲

haswell 12 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I’m unfamiliar with German basic law, but considering the lawlessness we’re seeing play out in the US right now, I’m curious how/why modern constitutions are less vulnerable?

By this I mean: it’s not as if the things we see playing out are lawful. Is there a structural difference that somehow prevents the same kind of lawlessness?

Put another way, what stops a movement that decides to ignore Germany’s constitution from ignoring it should they somehow gain power?

▲

garte 7 hours ago | parent [-]

For starters, Germany does not give a single person the right to be king with decrees and military leadership.

Also (though not an issue with the law itself) it's really dangerous only having two parties at the helm.

	▲	Jensson 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> For starters, Germany does not give a single person the right to be king with decrees and military leadership. Separation between civilian leaders and military leaders is a big one, yeah. When the same person controls both the military directly and the executive branch of the civilian government directly you don't have any way to punish him without his subordinates overthrowing him since he controls all the power.

▲

nroets 12 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

1. When Trump lost to Biden, many Republicans including Mike Pence certified Biden's win as prescribed by the constitution.

2. Trump knows the military will not participate in a coup.

3. Trump will not run for a third term. If he does, he will loose because Americans knows it's unconstitutional.

So Americans know that all the dirty laundry will come out when the next president takes office.

▲

JackFr 12 hours ago | parent | next [-]

The problem is norms are being destroyed.

It’s not all new with Trump (governing by executive order, ignoring duly enacted laws, strong arming media companies, etc.). But while earlier administrations might have done those things on the margins, Trump takes them to 11 (in the spirit of the new Spinal Tap) and makes them the central and primary means of administration.

With the norms destroyed, we potentially lose our nation of laws, and become a plutocracy with different juntas every few years.

▲

Hikikomori 12 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

1. There's barely any normal republicans left, its all MAGA now that would hang Pence like they wanted to in 2021.

2. Likely true, but they don't really need the military as ICE which now employs all the armed racists they need, like Jan 6 people.

3. He's floating the idea, even talking about not having elections if they're in a war like Ukraine, even though its not in the constitution. Either way they're going all in on rigging elections so Vance will take over.

	▲	BlueTemplar 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Which foreign country is going to invade one third of USA ? (Never mind, Trump never cared about little details like these...)

▲

lossolo 10 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Constitution is just a social contract, it’s not a law of physics. Without people wanting to preserve it, it’s just words on a piece of paper with no real power. With a majority in the Supreme Court, the Constitution can be interpreted however one wants.