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The Documentary: A constitutional conversation

A constitutional conversation

23/03/2021 GMT

BBC World Service - The Documentary, A constitutional conversation

Is it time the US Constitution got a 21st Century makeover?

How do you solve a problem like America? A land where speech is free - but hate rules the airwaves. A land of opportunity - where 40 million people live in poverty. A land of democracy - where the majority of Americans are under-represented in national government.

On 6 January we saw the flaws of the constitution in full view, a constitution which – according to one leading academic “gets close to a failing grade in terms of 21st-Century notions on democratic theory".

Award winning journalist Brian Palmer asks if the near sacred text is fit for modern governance. Does the electoral college deliver adequate representation for everybody? Do check and balances place too great a strain on good governance? Is the Constitution key to solving America’s ills?

Producer: Glyn Tansley

(Photo: The US Capitol building in Washington, D.C. Credit: Getty Images)

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