The first time I grasped what a constitution does was in a crowded lecture hall at the University of Buenos Aires Faculty of Law — the neoclassical building in my home city where generations have wrestled with fundamental legal questions. I came to class having studied Marbury v. Madison (1803), the landmark case that established judicial review — allowing courts to declare laws unconstitutional — affirming the Constitution’s supremacy.
In the weeks that followed, our class discussed other decisions shaped by constitutional principles upheld in the American tradition. In civic life, an effective constitutional design — including separation of powers, fundamental rights, specific limits on government authority, federalism and the rule of law — helps people and nations thrive.
Unfortunately, I also saw the contrast outside the classroom. When institutions drift from those principles, corruption takes root, trust evaporates and the cost of doing business rises. Global data show the same pattern: In the World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index (2025), 68% of countries declined in their rule of law (up from 57% the previous year). The Index draws on more than 215,000 public responses and 4,100 expert surveys across 143 countries, measuring how the rule of law is experienced worldwide.
The Constitution as the real American dream
The Founding Fathers knew that a special kind of government — by “reflection and choice,” not by accident or force (Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 1) — would help a divided people flourish. The real American dream is deliberative, rules-first self-government. The Constitution is that operating system built to turn ideals into everyday principles and processes to secure “the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity” (Preamble).
James Madison explained that “among the numerous advantages promised by a well‑constructed Union, none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency to break and control the violence of faction” (Federalist No. 10). The dream is not wishful thinking; it is a system that channels disagreement without destroying freedom. When that system is respected, prosperity follows.
This dream requires effective administration to secure rights, enforce laws and protect liberty. As Hamilton said: “Energy in the executive is a leading character in the definition of good government” (Federalist No. 70).
The Constitution as a lighthouse
Contemporary scholars note that the American Constitution was the first complete written national constitution. Almost all democratic governments now have written constitutions, with notable exceptions like the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Israel.
In his 2024 book “American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation — And Could Again," Yuval Levin argued that “the Constitution was built with a keen awareness of the plurality and fractiousness of the American nation.” Those characteristics might be found in other countries. The Constitution’s real genius is to unify a fractious nation by compelling its citizens to act together — even when they do not think alike.
President Dallin H. Oaks, former justice on the Utah Supreme Court, reminded us that the principles found in the United States Constitution “block the autocratic ambitions that have corrupted democracy in some countries.”
The immigrant lens
For a legal immigrant like me, the real American dream is not a place I reached — it is the Constitution’s quiet promise of ordered liberty. In Utah, I have seen that promise lived daily, and my heart is full of gratitude. Wherever life takes me next, I will honor it with all my heart, mind and strength — because only together, by cherishing and safeguarding this Constitution, do we secure lasting peace, prosperity and hope for our families, our communities and, through our example, a watching world.