How The Slow Roll Of ‘Constitutional Regime Change’ Unravels A Nation

Elected officials, from rural school board members to the president of the United States, take an oath to defend the Constitution. Additionally, many unelected officials, such as FBI agents, take an oath of loyalty to the Constitution. Inherent in these initiation ceremonies is the belief that the Constitution is the regime to which officials bind themselves. Here, insurrection is best understood as an attack against a text, not a person or a building — even though buildings and people may be casualties caught up in an attack against the American idea.

Hillsdale College, the preeminent conservative institution of higher learning in America, distributes as many pocket Constitutions as possible to anyone who will have one. They have long known this is what needs conservation.

In November 2021, an original copy of the U.S. Constitution fetched an impressive bounty of $43,200,000 at a private auction — a monetary gesture at the value of the text that holds America in existence.

When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants to validate her positions, her go-to is still the United States Constitution. She may stray from what is now considered mainstream, but she never goes so far as to stray away (in her theory) from the Constitution.

Given the importance of this text, what must it mean for people who are not actually loyal to the Constitution to rise in rank? Do you suspect we’ve had a lot of these folks in serious positions for quite some time?

If your answer is yes, you have detected what one preeminent political philosopher has called a “cause of constitutional change” by accident. “Accident” here means something not directly related to the State, which makes it harder to detect.

The three other accidental causes of regime change are:

1. Corrupt elections or electioneering leading to changes over time.
2. Many minor changes to the Constitution add up to large changes over time.
3. Immigrants in large numbers splintering the country into new factions over time.

Does any of this sound familiar?

In addition to the subtle but deadly causes of regime change, the philosopher also provides a list of non-accidental causes of constitutional change, i.e., causes directly related to the State.  

He lists them:

1. An arrogant ruler is in charge.  
2. A repelling faction develops.  
3. People are acting to avoid disgrace or gain honor.
4. A too-powerful monarchy or oligarchy is ruling.
5. The people fear punishment.
6. The people despise those in power.
7. One class grows disproportionate.

Would you be surprised to hear these lists were composed 2,400 years ago by Aristotle?

Today our youth shrug off movies from the ’80s as irrelevant to their current life experience. The hope of generating interest in the wisdom of the ages is often dashed for a belief that the ideas du jour are on an uninterrupted continuum of progress. They are “awoke” that the ways of old are categorically unredeemable and offer nothing to them and their stream of consciousness.

Examples of this behavior abound, but the thinking often goes something like, “Fat can be the new healthy if one wants, and anyone who thinks otherwise is a bigot. These bigots will be trampled during the march of progress.”

How could a person holding this disposition take up the Constitution as something worth extending into the future? They cannot.

It should be mentioned that in composing this list of “deadlies” to a regime, Aristotle was not making a moral claim about the phenomena of regime change, but more basically an observation that these are the things that ultimately lead to regime change. If any of these items were set into motion, over time the Constitution of a state would become vulnerable.

While it’s a stretch to credit any one group with systematically organizing these action items together, they certainly have been pushed by organized factions, and not by accident. We find ourselves well into an unfolding development of many of these phenomena.

The 24-hour news cycle dominating public discussion encourages short-term, immediate thinking based on the present. The muscle memory needed to reflect on the past and to reference the wisdom of past ages becomes atrophied in these conditions. We are wired to grab for what seems pressing, and in this predicament, the resources available to think through important questions are often left aside.

It can be encouraging to know that while we are in a new era, we have not transcended the body, material world, or the basics of human nature that still account for so much of politics and individual and group behavior. The flawed and genius playbook that Aristotle composed 2,400 years ago is still very much in play, albeit with characters that he probably never could have imagined in his wildest dreams. If the American regime is worth preserving, it’s worth a nod and reference.

Becca Williams is the founder of Valor Education.

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.