How to Ratify Hungary’s New Constitution

Michael Sobolik / March 25, 2011

When the 39 delegates signed the Constitution on a hot summer’s day in Philadelphia, not one of them believed their work was over. It was not until the document’s ratification the following year that Benjamin Rush declared, “Tis done. We have become a nation.”

Hungary, whose history predates America’s existence by a thousand years, is now working to pen a new constitution that reflects her independence from the former Soviet Union. Thus far, however, Hungary’s leaders have overlooked the essential importance of popular ratification. We support the Hungarian government in their effort to construct better safeguards for liberty, but the legitimacy of their work is in question if the people are not given a chance to ratify the constitution on its own merits. (more…)