We the People’ Loses Appeal

We the People’ Loses Appeal With People Around the World

By ADAM LIPTAK

WASHINGTON — The Constitution has seen better days.

Sure, it is the nation’s founding document and sacred text. And it is the oldest written national constitution still in force anywhere in the world. But its influence is waning.

In 1987, on the Constitution’s bicentennial, Time magazine calculated that “of the 170 countries that exist today, more than 160 have written charters modeled directly or indirectly on the U.S. version.”

A quarter-century later, the picture looks very different. “The U.S. Constitution appears to be losing its appeal as a model for constitutional drafters elsewhere,” according to a new study by David S. Law of Washington University in St. Louis and Mila Versteeg of the University of Virginia.

READ ON:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/07/us/we-the-people-loses-appeal-with-people-around-the-world.html

and see the graphic: The U.S. Constitution: A Less Common Model

A study of constitutions in 188 countries adopted from 1946 to 2006 found that only some of the most popular rights are shared by the United States Connstitution. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/02/06/us/less-common-constitution-model.html