The Democracy We Never Had: Aziz Rana

April 17th, 2025

“The U.S. has perhaps the hardest constitution in the world to amend.”

We discuss rethinking the Constitution as a way to reimagine democracy. In addition, we examine the role of constitutionalism in exporting the principles of democracy as the underpinning of American imperialism.

Aziz Rana is professor of law at Boston College and the author of The Constitutional Bind: How Americans Came to Idolize a Document That Fails Them and The Two Faces of American Freedom.

Your civic action toolkit recommendations from Aziz are:

  1. Join a union or a party formation or a tenants’ association in your community

  2. Get involved in shaping the terms institutions that serve as meaningful checks 

Let’s connect! Follow Future Hindsight on Instagram: 

https://www.instagram.com/futurehindsightpod/

Discover new ways to #BetheSpark: 

https://www.futurehindsight.com/spark

Follow Mila on X: 

https://x.com/milaatmos

Read The Constitutional Bind: 

https://bookshop.org/shop/futurehindsight

Sponsors:

Thank you to Lumen! Take the next step to improving your health: go to lumen.me/HOPEFUL to get 20% off your Lumen.

Thank you to Shopify for supporting the show! Sign up for a $1/month trial at shopify.com/hopeful.

Follow Future Hindsight on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/futurehindsightpod/

Early episodes for Patreon supporters:

https://patreon.com/futurehindsight

Credits:

Host: Mila Atmos 

Guest: Aziz Rana

Executive Producer: Mila Atmos

Producer: Zack Travis

Previous
Previous

AI's Civic Potential: Natalie Monbiot

Next
Next

Youth Power vs. The Climate Crisis: Aru Shiney-Ajay