Constitutional Politics

by Barber, Sotirios A.; George, Robert P.

• ISBN13: 9780691088686
• ISBN10: 0691088683
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-12-01
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

What does it mean to have a constitution? Scholars and students associated with Walter Murphy at Princeton University have long asked this question in their exploration of constitutional politics and judicial behavior. These scholars, concerned with the making, maintenance, and deliberate change of the Constitution, have made unique and significant contributions to our understanding of American constitutional law by going against the norm of court-centered and litigation-minded research. Beginning in the late 1970s, this new wave of academics explored questions ranging from the nature of creating the U.S. Constitution to the philosophy behind amending it.In this collection, Sotirios A. Barber and Robert P. George bring together fourteen essays by members of this Princeton group--some of the most distinguished scholars in the field. These works consider the meaning of having a constitution, the implications of particular choices in the design of constitutions, and the meaning of judicial supremacy in the interpretation of the Constitution. The overarching ambition of this collection is to awaken a constitutionalist consciousness in its readers--to view themselves as potential makers and changers of constitutions, as opposed to mere subjects of existing arrangements.In addition to the editors, the contributors are Walter F. Murphy, John E. Finn, Christopher L. Eisgruber, James E. Fleming, Jeffrey K. Tulis, Suzette Hemberger, Stephen Macedo, Sanford Levinson,H. N. Hirsch, Wayne D. Moore, Keith E. Whittington, and Mark E. Brandon.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	1	(8)
Alternative Political Systems	9	(32)
Walter F. Murphy
The Civic Constitution: Some Preliminaries	41	(29)
John E. Finn
Judicial Supremacy and Constitutional Distortion	70	(21)
Christopher L. Eisgruber
We the Exceptional American People	91	(25)
James E. Fleming
Constitution and Revolution	116	(12)
Jeffrey K. Tulis
What Did They Think They Were Doing When They Wrote the U.S. Constitution, and Why Should We Care?	128	(34)
Suzette Hemberger
Notes on Constitutional Maintenance	162	(5)
Sotirios A. Barber
Transformative Constitutionalism and the Case of Religion: Defending the Moderate Hegemony of Liberalism	167	(26)
Stephen Macedo
Promoting Diversity in the Public Schools (Or, to What Extent Does the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment Hinder the Establishment of More Genuinely Multicultural Schools?)	193	(30)
Sanford Levinson
Second Thoughts on the First Amendment	223	(15)
H. N. Hirsch
Constitutional Citizenship	238	(23)
Wayne D. Moore
The Political Foundations of Judicial Supremacy	261	(37)
Keith E. Whittington
Constitutionalism and Constitutional Failure	298	(16)
Mark E. Brandon
Justice, Legitimacy, and Allegiance ``The End of Democracy?'' Symposium Revisited	314	(15)
Robert P. George
Notes on Contributors	329	(2)
Index	331