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 Updating Our Social Contract
by Tom Campbell
January 17, 2008
Government is nothing more or less than a social contract between the people and the institution they form to preserve, promote, and protect them. The 55 most important words ever written in support of this truth are found in The Declaration of Independence:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among those are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
We the people give consent to our government and, from time to time, we have the right to change or even deny that consent. This founding principle is written into both our federal and state Constitution.
North Carolina has had three Constitutions, but we have not significantly revised our Constitution since 1971. Unethical and self serving behavior by officials, unwarranted influence given to special interests, and unproductive inactivity in resolving significant issues are signs that our government is not working as well as desired and it might be wise to review and revise this social contract.
Let us consider just one among many topics worth considering - terms of office for elected officials. Our early founders were so worried about abuse of power that our first state Constitution of 1776 called for yearly elections to ensure that those conducting the people’s business were responsive to those they served. Over the years we lengthened gubernatorial (and some other) terms from one, to two, to four and, in the 1970’s, allowed for our Governor to serve two consecutive four year terms, a change that prompted the lengthening of terms for legislative leadership. From our earliest beginnings we have been leery of allowing too few to serve in positions of power too long, but this is exactly what we now have.
Many propose we should lengthen terms, especially in our legislature, but we would argue that we might be better served to return to single-year terms, forcing elected officials to stand before us more frequently to get our consent. Opponents to the idea would protest this to be prohibitively expensive, perhaps prompting even more apathy among voters than currently exists. On the contrary, more frequent elections might stimulate more interest and participation among the public, would most certainly make elected officials more responsive to the electorate and might significantly reduce or eliminate the cadre of professional politicians we seem to have produced. This is a debate that should be staged, but any change would necessitate a vote by the electorate to amend our Constitution.
Sadly, our state Constitution makes little provision for us, the governed, to force such a vote. Only when our legislators vote to put a Constitutional amendment on a ballot do we have a voice. Our founders recognized this right but did not provide a process, such as referendums, for consideration.
Every institution, especially government, needs to be examined from time to time. North Carolina hasn’t done so in over 36 years. It is time for us to make sure our unalienable rights are indeed being protected and that we, the governed, are indeed giving our consent. |
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