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The Constitution as Symbol

Patterns of Meaning

Valparaiso University

The purpose of this article is to examine the symbolic meaning of the Constitution. To accomplish this, 324 subjects were administered a 60-item Q-sort consisting of state ments of opinion about the Constitution. The data were correlated and factor analyzed, resulting in three factors. The first factor represents the predominating viewpoint that the Constitution is a masterpiece and should always be kept sacred. However, persons with this viewpoint see that the Constitution contains some loopholes which have allowed it to be interpreted to suit the needs of a few. The second factordescribes the Constitution as deprivational and to persons with this viewpoint the Constitution represents most of what is bad about America. The third factor represents a "realist" viewpoint which recognizes the deprivational potential of the Constitution but sees the functional value of the document as well. The results indicate that the symbolic potential of the Consti tution is probably still intact.

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