The Evangelical Origins of the Living Constitution by john w. compton harvard, 272 pages, $45 The Constitution has become something different than what it once was. It used to be an actual document, something written on paper, solid and unchanging. Now, according to American constitutional . . . . Continue Reading »
The single most important event of constitutional interpretation in American history was the Civil War. The war was, of course, so much more than simply an act of constitutional interpretation. Fought from 1861 to 1865, it was the most devastating war in America’s history, resulting in the deaths . . . . Continue Reading »
In a parallel universe, the United States of America is somewhere still governed under the Articles of Confederation. Here’s what happened in this other United States: To the dismay of Federalists (called “nationalists” or conservatives at the time) the proposed constitution of 1787, which would have replaced the Articles of 1781, was defeated in four crucial state conventions and never became the framework of the American union.The hard political battle pitted radicals (called anti-Federalists) against conservatives and the radicals won, barely. The “United States, assembled in Congress”, remained the political subordinate of the states. Continue Reading »
Mary Ann Glendon wrote nearly a quarter century ago that “a new form of rights talk has come into being” in contemporary America, in which rights are “presented as absolute, individual, and independent of any necessary relation to our responsibilities. Continue Reading »
Few among us concerned for the defense of religious freedom can doubt that these have become dark times indeed. Most recently, arguments have been brought before the Supreme Court—there has been a veritable cascade of briefs—against the government on Obamacare. Many of these have one way . . . . Continue Reading »
Gay marriage, pro or con? That’s one of the basic political debates these days. And yet, the debate as it occurs 99% percent of the time is not about the actual issue before us. Over at NRO, a call by two former RNC operatives Liz Mair and Marco Nunez, for the Republican Party to abandon its . . . . Continue Reading »
At the end of the day, there are three, and only three, types of Democrat Leaders when it comes to the Constitution. There are first, Open Opponents of the Constitution, second, “So-to-Speak” Supporters of the Constitution, and third, Forthright Supporters of the Constitution. By . . . . Continue Reading »
The tension between American democracy, capitalism, and culture is acute—more acute, perhaps, than at any time in our history. Even the best human fruits of this nation’s founding principles are in peril. I mean the principles of natural rights and the internal constitution of checks and . . . . Continue Reading »
Please, please, please, will someone at the next Obama press conference (surely there will be at least one of these before March Madness commences) ask him the following question? Imagine that after careful study a government official — say, the president or one of the party leaders in . . . . Continue Reading »
Via The Arabist , I found this primer on the new Egyptian constitution, by one Zaid Al-Ali at Open Democracy . Very thorough, and plausibly seeking to lay out the good news and the bad, from a broadly liberal perspective. The summation: Altogether, in comparison with Egypt’s constitutional . . . . Continue Reading »
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