There have been intermittent calls, down the years, for a switch to a parliamentary system; and, after the second world war, American constitutional experts pressed parliamentary constitutions on Japan, West Germany and Italy.
Although newspapers are guaranteed freedom of the press under the constitution and there is no official censorship, many have been traditionally muted in their criticism of the president and the military.
Trump is not ignorant about the Founding Fathers' original intent when they codified a free press in the Constitution.
The Supreme Court's 2008 ruling that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to own guns, as opposed to one tied to militias, is another example of a transformation of a conventional understanding, Professor Levinson said, this one based on a view of the Constitution pressed by the National Rifle Association and its politically engaged supporters.
Another proposal was to enshrine press freedom in the constitution.
Protesters have continued to occupy the square to press for a new constitution with democratic principles.
Freedom of the press, guaranteed by the constitution, is generally honoured.
Yet those who still want to press ahead with the constitution point to two previous experiences.
Gerrymandered election districts, centralized control over the courts and the press and a new Constitution that dismantles checks and balances have caused discomfort in Brussels.
In reality, said another friend, "he sees human rights, freedom of the press, the law, the constitution as chains around his hands and legs".
Culture Minister Ataollah Mohajerani and several other reformist deputies attacked parts of the bill, including the proposed ban on press challenges to the Constitution.
