Recovering the Political Constitution

The Madisonian Vision

Dados Bibliográficos

ID8036754
AutoresGeorge Thomas (0000-0002-7192-7554, autor correspondente)
Ano2004
Volume66
Fascículo2
Páginas233-256
Data de publicação2004-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoThe Review of Politics (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0034-6705 • E-ISSN: 1748-6858
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0034670500037281
OpenAlexW2109325611
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas45

Constitutional theory has recently turned to the importance of extrajudicial constitutional interpretation. Yet much of the scholarly debate remains rooted in “legal” views of the Constitution, which continue to give primacy to the Court. This article seeks to go further by articulating a Madisonian view of the Constitution, which resituates questions of interpretation within a larger institutional framework. This Madisonian view suggests that the Constitution calls forth continual debate about constitutional meaning. The “settlement” of constitutional issues is not an essential feature of our constitutional system and, thus, constitutional politics with overlapping views, discontinuities, and essentially unsettled meanings are inherent features of the Madisonian Constitution. Recovering the Madisonian vision is an essential step in restoring both the political branches and the Court to the proper place in the constitutional scheme and, in doing so, overcoming the deeply ingrained myth of judicial supremacy

Constitution · Constitutional economics · Constitutional theory · Epistemology · Interpretation (philosophy · Law and economics · Meaning (existential · Political science · Politics · Separation of powers · Sociology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Law · Legal and Constitutional Studies · Philosophy