Constitutions: Our North American neighbors.

   "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

               The Declaration of Independence, 1776 

American schoolchildren learn that the Founding Fathers were great men of unsurpassed wisdom, and that the Constitution is a near-sacred document. 

We grow up to learn there were problems with it, problems that persist. 

Posts the past two days have looked at what may come to be understood as America's "third founding." There was the first one in the 1770s and 1780s.  There was the second one when the Civil War and Reconstruction Amendments established equality as a value along with life and liberty. This third founding did not require formal constitutional amendments. It is taking place now through new practices and norms. We have a strong executive who does as he pleases, rewarding friends, punishing opponents, using Congress as a force multiplier -- a squad of synophants and applauders -- not as a check and balance. We have a unitary executive immune from prosecution for breaking the law. 

The U.S. has never been stuck with the old way of doing things. There have always been options on how to organize a government. Erich Almasy makes that point with today's guest post by describing the U.S. in the context of our two North American neighbors. Almasy is a college classmate who had a long career in business consulting and management. The photo shows him wearing class reunion gear from the 55th reunion in front of racing boats: shells. He rowed in college.

Guest Post by Erich Almasy

SPQR (Senātus Populusque Rōmānus)

(The Senate and People of Rome, i.e. the Roman Republic)

 

The Roman Republic lasted over 480 years, from 509 to 27 BCE*. Ours is now at 250 years. I have had the luxury over the past thirty years of living in all three republics that comprise North America: Canada, the United States of America, and the United States of México. I have lived in each of these distinct cultures, each with a different approach to governance and social welfare. Here are some thoughts about what I have witnessed.

 

Form of Government

The United States was founded in 1776 as a breakaway set of thirteen colonies of Great Britain. It chose a form of democratic republic with a President, a bicameral (two houses) legislature, and a judiciary headed by a Supreme Court. All members of each branch, except the judiciary, are elected either by direct election via congressional districts or through an Electoral College. Canada, colonized by both France and England, became the Dominion of Canada, a self-governing entity within the British Empire, in 1867. Canada is a constitutional monarchy, with the English monarch as the ceremonial head of state, a lower house elected from electoral districts (ridings), an appointed upper house, and an appointed Supreme Court. The Prime Minister is considered the Head of Government and is elected by the Members of Parliament (the lower house). México became a democratic republic after its independence from Spain in 1821. However, until the 1920s, it had two emperors, was invaded by the United States and France, and had one President (Porfirio Díaz) who served for 31 years. México has three branches, including a President who serves a single six-year term; a bicameral legislature with a Chamber of Deputies elected every three years and a Senate elected every six years. As of 2025, México’s Supreme Court justices are elected to staggered 12-year terms.

 

Citizenship and Voting

The United States originally granted citizenship only to White men. Ratified in 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted citizenship to anyone born within the United States. Canada and México also honor jus soli (right of the soil) for any child born within their territories. Women in the United States got the right to vote after the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. Women in Canada got the right to vote at different times: as early as 1916 in Manitoba and as late as 1940 in Quebec. Asian and Indigenous Canadians had to wait until 1948 and 1960, respectively, to vote in federal elections. Women in México got the right to vote in 1953. México’s political parties are required by the Constitution to offer gender equality with a 50/50 split in legislative and executive positions at all levels of government. Women in both México and Canada are also legally guaranteed equal pay for equal work. Both Canada and México have established paths of roughly 5 to 7 years toward citizenship for immigrants. Grandchildren of both Mexican and Canadian citizens are also eligible for direct citizenship via jus sanguinis (right of blood).

 

Health Care and Social Security

In the United States, health care is paid for individually until age 65 federally or based on income level, according to state mandates. Two federal government systems established in 1965, Medicare and Medicaid, support older and poorer citizens. In 1947, Tommy Douglas (actor Kiefer Sutherland’s grandfather), the Premier of the province of Saskatchewan, created a universal hospital plan that, in 1957, became Canada’s national health program, Medicare. This provides free health care to all citizens and permanent residents of Canada. México is finalizing a national public health system for all citizens to be completed by 2027. It also has extensive private hospitals for those with higher incomes. All three countries have Social Security systems funded by employees and employers, with retirement benefits available after age 60 or 62.

 

When living in Canada, I used to tease Canadians that their system depended on a benevolent Prime Minister because he or she appointed the Supreme Court and the Senators, and ran Parliament. So far, I guess they’ve been lucky, smart, or both. In theory, the United States has coequal branches of government with distinct roles that provide checks and balances to prevent the consolidation of power in the Executive. Neither the Founders nor I ever anticipated a party and President that would usurp power as we are seeing today. For 71 years, from 1929 to 2000, México essentially had a single party, the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party). That monopoly was broken in the new century, and while parties tend to dominate for years, there is still competition. And a female Jewish President!

 

*While the Republic of San Marino has been around for over 1,700 years and the Venetian Republic lasted 1,100 years, Rome was by far the largest republic in history. So far!

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