Countries like Cambodia, Nicaragua, Sudan, and Syria do not allow much political accountability or competition. No one can tell the leader to stop bad policies. Most people in these places are poor and get shoved down if they complain. There are no easy ways to get rid of bad leaders – and no easy ways to find better leaders. Instead, leaders are changed through violent coups, revolutions, wars, or old age.
By contrast, the U.S. Constitution makes it harder for the federal government to control us or hold us down. Citizens can vote out elected officials who abuse their power. We have the right to assemble and speak freely, and freedom from unjustified and unfair prosecution. Government tyranny is made harder by the separation and sharing of powers – between the federal government and the states, between the president and congress, between governors and state legislatures, and between legislative houses and senates. All these features are protected by a constitution that is purposefully difficult to change.
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Image: Freedom in the World 2022, Freedom House.
