How Democratic Is the American Constitution?

How Democratic is the American Constitution? (2001, ISBN 0-300-09218-0, among others) is a book by political scientist Robert A. Dahl that discusses seven "undemocratic" elements of the United States Constitution.

The book defines "democratic" as alignment with the principle of one person, one vote, also known as majority rule. It praises the Framers of the Constitution as "men of exceptional talent and virtue" (p. 7) who made admirable progress in the creation of their republican government. However, it also points out that innovation and change in democratic techniques and ideals continued even after the Constitution had been codified, and the American system has not adopted all of those new ideas. He notes that the Founding Founders were partially constrained by public opinion, which included maintenance of the sovereignty of the thirteen states.