• Rhaedas@fedia.io
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      1 month ago

      19 years, in a letter from Jefferson to Madison.

      To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 6 September 1789

      He thought that firstly no document or law could be forever relevant, so it needed revisioning occasionally, and the 19 years seems to tie into the idea of each generation taking a new look and either accepting existing laws as still good or making changes.

    • TheReturnOfPEB@reddthat.com
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      1 month ago

      The French Revolution created an easier method for reforming The Republic and rewriting their constitution.

      They enshrined the revolutionary aspects of revolution instead of its leaders.

      That said the Federalists got part of the idea from ancient Lycia on having proportional representation and then added in keeping it in check by another chamber with equal footing.

      https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20230906-the-ancient-civilisation-that-inspired-us-democracy

      It is a good idea. But we need more Congresspersons to lower the people each congressperson represents. It was ~95,000 in 1940 … in 2020 it is closer to 750,000 per congresscritter.