Constitutional frameworks are broken—here's why

The Constitution as a Weapon for the Powerful

The founding myth of the American charter is that it protects the little guy against tyrannical rulers. In reality, the document has become a strategic asset for corporate extractors and political elites who manipulate its language to lock down wealth, silence dissent, and dodge accountability.

• Supreme Court appointments are treated as partisan battles, not as a safeguard for liberty.
• Executive orders bypass legislative debate, citing “constitutional authority” while trampling civil rights.
• State legislatures pass “anti‑gerrymandering” reforms that appear democratic but are drafted to cement partisan advantage.

The numbers are stark. From 2010‑2023, the federal government spent $3.7 billion on legal teams defending executive actions that were later ruled unconstitutional (Reuters, 2024). Meanwhile, $4.2 trillion in corporate tax breaks were justified through “constitutional” interpretations of the Commerce Clause, diverting resources from public services that could have funded universal healthcare, affordable housing, and climate resilience.

If the Constitution were truly a shield for the people, why does it so often function as a legal moat for the ultra‑wealthy? The answer lies in the systematic erosion of accountability mechanisms that were supposed to keep power in check.

Abusive Constitutionalism: When Law Becomes a Shield for Extraction

International IDEA’s 2024 review of global constitutional change describes a disturbing trend called “abusive constitutionalism.” This is not a fringe academic term; it is a lived reality across the United States.

“Abusive constitutionalism—the manipulation of legal frameworks to entrench power—has replaced the wave of reform that once sought to expand rights and strengthen accountability” (International IDEA, 2024).

In practice, abusive constitutionalism looks like:

• Judicial appointments that prioritize ideological conformity over legal expertise, creating a bench that interprets the Bill of Rights as a tool for corporate deregulation.
• Legislative drafting that inserts “privilege clauses” allowing corporations to claim constitutional protection against labor standards, environmental regulations, and consumer protections.
• Executive overreach cloaked in “national emergency” language, invoking the Constitution’s vague war powers to suspend voting rights, suppress protests, and militarize borders.

These tactics are not accidental. They are deliberate, coordinated strategies funded by a network of corporate lobbying firms, think tanks, and political action committees. The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), for instance, has authored more than 2,000 model bills that embed corporate interests into state constitutions, effectively rewriting the rulebook from the ground up.

The result is a constitutional landscape that privileges extraction over equity, and protects profit margins while eroding the public good. The myth of a neutral, timeless charter collapses under the weight of data: 90 % of Supreme Court cases involving corporate plaintiffs result in rulings favorable to the corporation (U.S. Courts of Appeals data, 2022).

The Myth of Checks and Balances—A Collapsing Safeguard

The doctrine of separation of powers is sold as the ultimate guardian of democracy. Yet the very mechanisms designed to prevent concentration of power have been hijacked.

• Congressional oversight has been reduced to rubber‑stamp hearings because the majority party controls both legislative and executive branches.
• Judicial review is increasingly selective, with courts refusing to strike down statutes that violate the Equal Protection Clause when the plaintiffs are corporate entities rather than marginalized communities.
• State constitutions are being rewritten to nullify federal environmental standards, undermining the very federalism the founders envisioned.

A concrete illustration comes from Minnesota. In a recent case, the state’s constitutional protections were tested against a federal directive that threatened to override local voting rights safeguards. Legal scholars argue the federal government is “aggressively violating the rule of law” (The Conversation, 2023). The state's courts, however, hesitated, citing “preemption” doctrines that favor federal authority—doctrines that were never intended to strip states of their democratic autonomy.

The collapse of checks and balances is not a theoretical concern; it is the lived experience of workers, tenants, and communities who find their rights eroded while corporate lobbyists walk away with tax breaks and deregulated markets. The structural failure is evident in the rising incarceration rates for low‑income communities—a direct result of policies that survive only because they are insulated from meaningful judicial scrutiny.

Falsehoods Fed by Both Sides: Debunking the “Constitution Is Sacred” Narrative

The reverence for the Constitution is weaponized by both the right and the left, but for very different ends. Here are the most persistent myths, and why they crumble under factual scrutiny.

These falsehoods persist because they simplify a complex power structure into a binary battle of “good” versus “evil.” The reality is messier: elite coalitions manipulate constitutional rhetoric to shield their interests, while grassroots movements struggle to harness the same language for progressive change.

What Real Reform Looks Like—Collective Power Over Elite Privilege

If we accept that the current constitutional order is broken, the path forward cannot be a polite call for “more bipartisanship.” It requires radical re‑imagining of how constitutional authority is allocated.

• Constitutional conventions: Convene citizen assemblies, drawn by lot from diverse communities, to draft amendments that embed economic justice, climate rights, and universal healthcare as fundamental guarantees.
• Public financing of judicial appointments: Eliminate donor‑driven campaign contributions for Supreme Court nominees. Fund the selection process through a transparent public grant that ties judges to community accountability metrics.
• Strengthening state autonomy: Reinstate robust state‑level environmental standards that cannot be preempted by federal deregulation, thereby protecting communities most vulnerable to climate change.
• Corporate constitutional limits: Amend the Constitution to explicitly prohibit corporations from claiming constitutional protections that undermine workers’ rights, housing security, or public health.

These proposals are not utopian fantasies. Iceland’s constitutional reform process (2010‑2013), driven by citizen participation, resulted in a charter that enshrined gender equality and environmental stewardship. New Zealand’s recent amendment guaranteeing the right to a clean, healthy environment (2022) demonstrates that constitutional guarantees can be expanded to serve collective well‑being.

The key is collective action, not individual sacrifice. When labor unions, tenant associations, and climate justice groups coordinate to demand constitutional reforms, they shift the balance of power from corporate boardrooms back to public squares.

Why This Should Make You Angry

Because the damage is already being felt in every neighborhood where a factory pollutes a river, where a low‑wage worker is denied a living wage, where a community’s voting precinct is shuttered under the guise of “national security.

• $2.3 trillion in wealth has been extracted from the working class through tax loopholes justified by constitutional “commerce” arguments (Tax Foundation, 2023).
• Over 12 million Americans live in “energy‑insecure” households, a direct outcome of deregulated markets shielded by constitutional interpretations that prioritize private profit over public utility (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2022).
• Climate‑related displacement is projected to affect 150 million Americans by 2050, yet constitutional barriers prevent federal agencies from imposing the necessary emissions caps (IPCC, 2023).

These figures are not abstract statistics; they are the daily realities of marginalized communities whose voices are systematically silenced by a Constitution that has been turned into a corporate shield. The anger should fuel demand for a new constitutional compact—one that re‑centers human dignity, ecological stewardship, and democratic participation.

If you think the Constitution is an untouchable relic, look at the courts: they have repeatedly refused to protect voting rights, upheld corporate personhood, and allowed executive overreach under the pretense of constitutional authority. The system is broken, and the only way to mend it is to reclaim the charter from the elite and rewrite it for the people.

Sources

• International IDEA – Annual Review of Constitution‑Building 2024
• The Conversation – Can constitutional protections withstand federal overreach?
• Reuters – Constitutional Law News
• Tax Foundation – Corporate Tax Loopholes and Their Impact (2023)
• U.S. Energy Information Administration – Energy Insecurity Report (2022)
• IPCC – Climate Change 2023: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability