The potential moral power of a new Australian constitutional preamble

This chapter applies the work of sociologist Dennis Wrong to the Australian Constitution. Wrong distinguishes between ‘power over’ and ‘power to’.2 ‘Power over’ is coercive; it involves control that can be exercised over a person or group. In Nye’s taxonomy, ‘power to’ is a kind of soft power. Characterised by influence, it is when you can inspire or encourage a person or group to act in the ways you want them to. It will be argued in this chapter that a constitutional preamble has a form of moral ‘power to’. This kind of morality is distinct from personal or religious variations. A constitutional preamble offers a form of civic morality tied to notions of good citizenship and pursuing the greater good over individual gain. The key to moral power, to channel Marshall McLuhan, is in the medium rather than the message.3 If an individual, group or government is seen to hold moral authority, they have a form of ‘power to’ and can influence behaviour in a way others cannot. Similarly, the moral power of a constitutional preamble exists only to the extent that the Constitution itself is popularly respected.