By Austen Parrish
Today we celebrate Constitution Day. On Constitution Day, we pause to take a moment to reflect on our constitutional history that began on Philadelphia’s cobblestone streets and has steered us through ever-changing times. The day formally commemorates the signing of the United States Constitution by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention on September 17, 1787.
Constitution Day is a day of education. Public and private educational institutions across the United States provide programming for students to learn more about our history and our democracy, the importance of our constitution and the rule of law, and the promise to continue making “a more perfect union.” As President Ronald Reagan said in his 1981 proclamation, “While a constitution may set forth rights and liberties,” only the people can “maintain and guarantee those freedoms” while “[a]ctive and informed citizenship is not just a right; it is a duty.” President Barack Obama with his 2016 proclamation noted the “responsibility that challenges each of us to stay informed, to speak out when something is not right or not just, and to come together to shape the course our country will take.”
This commitment to learning, public education, and indeed the special role that universities play in our democracy, finds deep roots in our history. In 1790, when George Washington gave his first annual address to Congress, he noted the importance of “teaching the people themselves to know and to value their own rights; to discern and provide against invasions of them; to distinguish between oppression and the necessary exercise of lawful authority….” Thomas Jefferson and others emphasized that an educated citizenry was vital for the nation’s success, believing that a well-informed populace was essential for self-governance and freedom, while John Adams urged that the education of all in our nation, whether rich or poor, had “to be the care of the public” and “maintained at the public expense.”
This year, Constitution Day takes on particular importance. We live in polarizing times. We are inundated with misinformation, conspiracy theories, and extremist views to which elected officials increasingly pander. Many worry that we are in a constitutional crisis, on the brink of one, or at least facing “a constitutional stress test.” In this context, we benefit from recognizing the ties and commonalities, beyond partisanship and politics, that bind us and our families together. And while it sometimes may be hard to see, the reality is that we have more in common with each other than differences that might separate us. This is particularly true with our Constitution, which enshrines our collective responsibility to all in our society and protects all persons within our country. Our Constitution remains the key document to prevent abuses of power, ensuring government respects constitutional rights and structuring our country around the rule of law.
Constitution Day can also be understood in broader context. It is part of a series of commemorative holidays that are designed to bring all in our state and our country together to reflect on pivotal moments in our history regardless of backgrounds or politics. As President George W. Bush said in 2001, just shortly after the 9-11 attacks: “Throughout America’s history, in times of turmoil and peace, liberty and oppression, our faith in the Constitution’s promise of freedom and democracy has been a steadfast rock of national stability against the raging seas of political change.”
Today is also a time to remember what makes our Constitution distinct. The United States has the oldest written national constitution still in operation and notably is one of the shortest constitutions in the world. Our Constitution is remarkable in part because of how it separated and provided only limited powers to our federal government, ensuring that power would not be concentrated in any one branch and that under our system of federalism many powers remained with the states.
One of the most significant changes from the Articles of Confederation was the creation of three branches of government: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. In that mindful division, the legislature says what the laws are, the executive faithfully must carry out and enforce those laws, and the courts interpret the laws and the Constitution. As James Madison argued in the Federalist Papers #47, “the accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands… may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” The framers of the Constitution were realists, crafting a system of checks and balances designed to protect us from the worst in human ambition.
While a fundamental cornerstone of our democracy is that the courts protect society from government overreach, that protection should rarely be needed. Presidents, high-ranking officials, and others in our government are constitutionally mandated to take care to uphold and enforce the Constitution and the laws passed by Congress, while respecting the rulings of courts. Our highest courts are there for the difficult questions, but for the legal questions long settled—for example when the Constitution’s text is clear and the meaning settled by years of practice and precedent—all in our government are obligated to follow the law regardless of their own policy preferences or views on the laws’ wisdom.
On this Constitution Day, I encourage everyone at UC Irvine to take a moment to reflect on the U.S. Constitution and our nation’s founding documents, the reasons our Constitution has stood the test of time, and how the wisdom of the Founders and their commitment to the rule of law are pertinent to the pressing issues of today. For our campus, regardless of our interests, majors, areas of study, or future goals, each of us have a vital role to play in shaping our country and our democracy in the years to come. As Dean of our Law School, I am fortunate to be surrounded by brilliant students (and faculty, staff, and alumni), who are willing to tackle the most difficult issues our society faces with the same respectful and empathetic approach that Constitution Day envisions. And we are fortunate that our communities, in Irvine and throughout Orange County, are filled with lawyers, judges, visionaries, and civic leaders of tremendous integrity, working in the public and private spheres, who live up to the ideals of civic engagement and respect for the rule of law our constitutional system envisions.
Warmest wishes on this Constitution Day. I invite you to explore the University of California website dedicated to this day (and the links to historical documents above). Equally important, as UC Irvine begins the fall term, I wish all anteaters the very best for the coming year.
Austen Parrish is the dean and Chancellor’s Professor of Law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. He currently serves as the president of the Association of American Law Schools.