According to this week’s issue of The Economist, Ecuador’s new Constitution (which it is widely presumed will be ratified at the end of September) is 444 articles long, gives state-owned companies control of the economy, gives the president the power to dismiss the legislature, guarantees a minimum wage for labor, and outlaws foreign military bases.

About that last bit concerning foreign military bases, I’m delighted. President Correa of Ecuador (described by The Economist as a, “youngish Catholic economist") may be a socialist, but at least he understands sovereignty. At least one implication of the approval of this Constitution would be that the United States would no longer be able to operate anti-drug missions from there, which is a plus. Although, there seems to be little else to get enthusiastic about. But, then, I (like almost certainly virtually every citizen in Ecuador), haven’t read all 444 articles.

This will be Ecuador’s 20th Constitution. It reminds me just how resilient (and mercifully brief) the Constitution of the United States is. We’ve been working from the same document for over 2 centuries, and have only once been faced with a serious risk of secession or collapse. Perhaps if we weren’t so fitfully busy minding the business of so many other countries around the world, they might be more inclined to examine our model, which, while flawed, has stood the test of time the way few other nations’ have.