Commentary : Bicentennial’s Meaning to Us

Some events are harder to celebrate than others. The Bicentennial of the Constitution is one of them.

Just last summer the nation focused considerable attention on the centennial celebration for the Statue of Liberty. Yet, here in Orange County we are hard-pressed to generate great emotional fervor over the 200th birthday of the document that enabled “we the people” to “form a more perfect union” and “secure the blessings of liberty.”

Americans find it easier to celebrate symbols than to give serious consideration to substance. As a result, the celebration of the constitutional Bicentennial has placed a premium on the symbols that make for entertainment rather than on the substance that would engender enlightenment. Our unconscious propensity for entertainment over enlightenment surely deprives the largely Philadelphia-based Bicentennial celebration of meaning and contemporary relevance--especially to one living so far away in Orange County.

This month we commemorate the signing of the Constitution and the beginning of the difficult process of ratification. In our haste to transform them into symbols for celebration, we lose sight of the substance most worthy of serious reflection--the process and lessons of constitution-building.

If we reorient our attention thusly, the Bicentennial becomes an occasion for potentially instructive and suggestive insight and guidance. Herein lies the relevance of this commemorative occasion for all of the residents of Orange County.

The problems and promises of constitution-building faced by the founders of this nation 200 years ago have much to offer a county confronting the challenges of significant social, economic and political development.

As we prepare to embark on Orange County’s Centennial celebration we can profitably examine the issues confronting our growth and progress in light of the principles and lessons of American constitution-building.

1. The evolution of governmental institutions. The founders understood that as conditions within a nation changed, institutions had to change along with them. They believed that institutions could be designed to produce intended results, and that when these results are not forthcoming, it is the right and the obligation of the next generation to alter the institutions accordingly. In this light, the recent institutional changes suggested for the Board of Supervisors by the Orange County Grand Jury ought not to be taken as criticisms of officeholders but rather as attempts to better shape institutional dynamics to the county’s changing needs.

2. Beware of political parties. Political parties were held in low esteem by the founders, who saw them as dangerous cabals capable of extinguishing individual liberty. Yet they also recognized the need for considerable individual participation to enhance representation and accountabilty. In Orange County, party affiliation has become a political obsession frequently to the point of distracting us from the primary objectives of political participation--responsiveness by leaders and self-development. The litmus test of effective governance in a democracy rests in the quality of individuals’ ideas and their commitment to political engagement, not in their party affiliation.

3. Cultural identification, integration and toleration. Nation-building is never an easy process nor is any attempt at building a coherent political community. Some of the greatest compromises and political bargains reached at the (constitutional) convention were designed to accommodate powerful, conflicting interests. James Madison thought that the unification of such diversity would have intrinsic benefits as well as prevent the development of intolerant majorities. Institutional accommodation and political toleration were the keys to bringing about such a result. In Orange County we increasingly need to balance the need for individual and group identification with the demand for cultural integration or even assimilation.

4. Growth and the quality of community. The fundamental conflict between the Federalists and the anti-Federalists over the ratification of the Constitution occurred over their respective visions of the qualities preferred in an ideal political community. This conflict centered on the differences between a society that would be largely agricultural versus one comprised of emerging mercantilists. How this nation would respond to the changes brought about by the inevitability of growth--economic, social and political--was at stake in the same way that it is today in Orange County. The industrialization that occurred in the 19th Century was probably inevitable, just as the continued growth of Orange County is probably inevitable--despite efforts to the contrary. The real issue is how this growth will occur and whether efforts to facilitate it will reflect principles of democratic participation, planning and governance.

The Bicentennial can be instructive, even for Southern Californians. Our reason to celebrate the Bicentennial rests in a challenge to understand and apply the principles of a representative democracy. The quality of our lives will be enriched by active engagement with this living legacy that continues to speak meaningfully to our nation, state, county and each of us, but only if we listen.