Envisioning the Future, Part 1 | America's Unwritten Constitution with Akhil Reed Amar

Instead of looking back 225 years, Akhil Reed Amar turns the camera forward to the Constitution still to be written and the amendments most likely to come. This lecture lays out three principles for future amendments: they should add to liberty and equality, win support from both parties, and follow ideas the states have already road-tested. Amar applies them to reforms like presidential eligibility for naturalized citizens and abolishing the electoral college, then maps ten features shared across all fifty-one American constitutions, a distinctly American constitutional model. Chapters: 00:00 The Constitution still to be written 01:42 Amendments should add to liberty and equality 05:34 States as laboratories 07:07 A naturalized-citizen president 12:32 Abolishing the Electoral College 16:23 Ten features of the American constitutional model 📚 Learning objectives: After watching, you'll be able to: - Identify three principles guiding likely future amendments - Explain how states serve as laboratories the federal Constitution copies - Analyze proposals such as presidential eligibility for naturalized citizens - Describe the ten features shared across the state and federal constitutions 📺 Watch the full playlist on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLABHWcbOLwlY 🎓 Enroll on Coursera for assessments and a certificate: https://www.coursera.org/learn/unwritten-constitution 🌐 Explore more learning opportunities on Yale Online: https://online.yale.edu/courses/americas-unwritten-constitution