Ever since Ronald Reagan famously confused the Declaration of Independence with the Constitution, it has been clear to me that not only the Gipper, but the republic at large, harbors a woeful ignorance of the nation’s founding documents.

Let me be blunt. I believe that education should be the purview of the states and local communities; but there should be one federal tie that binds: beginning immediately, a year-long course on the United States Constitution must be mandatory for every American high school student.

I am not talking about a course in “civics,” where the “good citizen” is defined as someone who votes, takes out his garbage and pays his bills on time. Rather, we need to present a course on the Constitution with a fervor that would make a televangelist look like a wallflower. Students must emerge from the course able to quote the document article and paragraph, chapter and verse.

Let me be the first to suggest that my idea is brilliant, not to mention timely, for we are living through a period when the Constitution is being ridden over roughshod, its tenets blithely ignored, its freedoms sacrificed on the altar of “security.” This is because security is now viewed – in such an un-American fashion – as more precious than freedom. Perhaps because they are abashed by this, politicians rarely make reference

to the counsel of the Constitution. The result is a quiet, creeping, insidious distancing from our sacred document. Let me give some examples:

One. In February 2004 there was a conference on Islamic law at the University of Texas. Two Army counterintelligence agents showed up and demanded to see the roster. Their reason: some students had been asking “suspicious” questions. These students were subsequently grilled by the officers. Where was the first amendment? The answer: under anesthesia.

Two. Guantanamo internees were, until recently, given no access to legal counsel. When the Supreme Court awoke from its stupor and over-rode the president’s orders to sequester the prisoners indefinitely without benefit of an attorney, it was found that some of them had been tortured. Where was the eighth amendment? The answer: at an undisclosed location.

Three. Under the “Patriot” Act, federal agents may search private homes without a warrant, and without the knowledge of the occupants. Where is the Fourth Amendment? The answer: suspended.

One might ask how such things could come to pass in the land of the free. There is no mystery here. I came face to face with the reason just the other night, while sitting with some friends. One of them, a mature, intelligent, educated man, remarked that he didn’t mind if the government searched his home without a warrant and without his knowledge because he “doesn’t have anything to hide.”

When I cited the Fourth Amendment prohibiting unreasonable searches and seizures, he stared at me as if I had spoken in tongues. He seemed to be aware that the Constitution existed, in the same way that I am vaguely aware of the existence of Greenland. But beyond that, he admitted that he had never read a word of it. However, he tried to recoup lost ground by asserting that “America is the greatest country on earth.”

Whatever greatness we possess, of course, is a function of how we exercise commonly held beliefs. The Constitution is the encapsulation of these beliefs, and its primary purpose is to interpose a barrier between government power and the sovereign rights of the people. Whenever government seeks to extend its wandering hand under our shirts, we should rebel, not acquiesce.

The course on the Constitution that I envision must not only dissect the essence and meaning of our secular scripture, but must include its personal, historical and sociological backgrounds as well. The syllabus would run something like this:

NAME OF COURSE: The Constitution of the United States of America

TEXTBOOK: The Constitution of the United States of America

SCHEDULE:

1. Historical Background

2. The Founding Fathers

3. The Constitutional Convention

4. The Preamble

5. The Articles

6. The Bill of Rights

7. The Subsequent Amendments

8. Defending the Constitution

I have no doubt that there would be tremendous opposition to this idea in the halls of Congress, for it is a myth that politicians seek an informed electorate. There isn’t a senator or representative who doesn’t want his constituents to be anything but pliant and nodding. And the proletariat, for the most part, is happy to comply. If there is one thing the American voter is good at, it’s wanting to be told what to believe and what to do. A grounding in the Constitution would have the opposite effect: it would make Americans into better political consumers, which, in turn, would bring out the better angels in the politicians themselves.

A required course in the United States Constitution would, I am convinced, make a potent plank in the platform of any presidential candidate. It would be singular, revolutionary, and striking. It would reacquaint us with the supreme law of the land, along

with its meaning, intent and spirit.

For all of these reasons, one should not expect to hear a word about it

from any of our representatives.

Robert Klose teaches at the University College of Bangor. He is a contributing essayist to The Christian Science Monitor and writes commentary for The Times Record of Brunswick.