Comparing Burke and Paine on Constitutional Change
Start Date
August 2024
End Date
August 2024
Location
ALT 206
Abstract
Thomas Paine and Edmund Burke represent two opposing sides on how governments can change. For Paine, governments should be overthrown if they are infringing on the God-given rights of their people. However, when a written constitution is ratified—such as the one in the United States—Paine is in agreement with Thomas Jefferson. That is to say, they are both in favor of each generation having a say on how to change the constitution or not. Burke, on the other hand, presents a more conservative skeptical outlook on governmental change. He advocates for slow change, when needed, given a country’s history and tradition. That is why he opposed the radical change conducted during the French Revolution that led to the Reign of Terror. Instead, Burke agrees with the American Revolution years earlier as the Colonists were not tied to British land. The upshot of comparing Paine to Burke on constitutional change is that constitutional theories such as living constitutionalism and originalism seem to follow this trend of how we can function if time and attitudes progress. Can a constitution change with each generation or through gradual and particular reforms? Thus, through looking at Paine and Burke, we can see how their ideas have influenced modern day constitutional theories, especially when read in light of recent constitutional decisions in the American court system.
Comparing Burke and Paine on Constitutional Change
ALT 206
Thomas Paine and Edmund Burke represent two opposing sides on how governments can change. For Paine, governments should be overthrown if they are infringing on the God-given rights of their people. However, when a written constitution is ratified—such as the one in the United States—Paine is in agreement with Thomas Jefferson. That is to say, they are both in favor of each generation having a say on how to change the constitution or not. Burke, on the other hand, presents a more conservative skeptical outlook on governmental change. He advocates for slow change, when needed, given a country’s history and tradition. That is why he opposed the radical change conducted during the French Revolution that led to the Reign of Terror. Instead, Burke agrees with the American Revolution years earlier as the Colonists were not tied to British land. The upshot of comparing Paine to Burke on constitutional change is that constitutional theories such as living constitutionalism and originalism seem to follow this trend of how we can function if time and attitudes progress. Can a constitution change with each generation or through gradual and particular reforms? Thus, through looking at Paine and Burke, we can see how their ideas have influenced modern day constitutional theories, especially when read in light of recent constitutional decisions in the American court system.
