The United States Constitution was signed Sept. 17, 1787, making this year its 233 anniversary. Constitution Day, or Citizen Day, was created to show respect for the signing of the document and to those who have become American citizens. 

Alex Tuckness, professor of political science, explains why the Constitution should have its own day.

“I think the Constitution represents our commitment to be governed by the rule of law and that the high authority in our country isn’t a person but a set of constitutional law and provisions that we’re committed to,” Tuckness said. “It is important to take time to think about, remember, even criticize the document because of that central place it has in our system of government.”

Dirk Deam, teaching professor of political science, said the Constitution is fairly plain to interpret but anything that isn’t clear is resolved by the courts, and those opinions become settled law.

“There really shouldn’t be a lot of ambiguity as to what the Constitution says,” Deam said. “You can always read it. You should start there as opposed to working from, say, other people’s off-hand interpretations, and you can also read court opinions … I don’t think there is a lot of room for free-hand interpretation. I think it is pretty settled the way it is.”

Deam said It would be wrong to simply read the Constitution and use a strict construction of the words, so when interpreting the Constitution, people should also consult professional opinions. 

“One of the basic arguments in terms of interpreting the Constitution is between strict construction and broad construction, basically meaning, should we read the text for what it is or should we be able to infer things from how it’s written?” said Zack Bonner, lecturer of political science. 

Bonner said the vagueness of the Constitution allows us to interpret what it meant so many years later, but problems may arise due to the lack of details.

“It’s a very flexible and vague document, which is great, it allows adaptation,” Bonner said. “However, trying to understand their original intentions can create some tension now because we’re trying to fit an argument using current standards or current institutions.”

The Constitution has been amended 27 times in America’s history, but it has not changed since 1992 with the addition of the 27th Amendment. 

“It’s possible that if we were writing the Constitution from scratch today, we wouldn’t choose to do things through the Electoral College,” Tuckness said. “But because we did choose to do it that way 200 years ago, that becomes something that is very difficult for voters to change now.”

There is an extensive process to make amendments to the Constitution to prevent arbitrary changes, according to The White House website. 

“If they had been more detailed in their description of what it means to bear arms, I think that would help alleviate a lot of arguments today,” Bonner said.