Framed America's 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance

In Framed, Levinson challenges our belief that the most important features of our constitutions concern what rights they protect. Instead, he focuses on the fundamental procedures of governance. Levinson argues that we should stop treating the United States Constitution as uniquely exemplifying the American constitutional tradition. Given the experience of so many states, he writes, surely it is reasonable to believe that the U.S. Constitution merits its own updating.