The Founders designed a government that placed the power first in the Constitution and second in the hands of the American people. This structure protected the nation from the growth of a national state, and this diffusion of power made American political culture distinct from its European brethren. Today, government has grown large, intrusive and often invisible, and that notable distinction has begun to disappear.

So it doesn’t seem like such a bad idea to take the time to publicly read the Constitution aloud on the House floor. This act alone will not in-and-of-itself return us to a time of limited government, but it serves to reorient the conversation and refashion the way lawmakers – and Americans – think about Washington.