About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

5 Akron J. Const. L. & Pol'y 1 (2014)

handle is hein.journals/akjopal5 and id is 1 raw text is: THE FOUNDERS ON: DOES THE CONSTITUTION WORK? Craig A. Stern* Does the Constitution work? An odd question to ask while Congress meets, the President acts, federal judges sit, the states are at peace, and the borders are (somewhat) secure. Nevertheless, remarks of the Founders strongly suggest that the Constitution does not work. That is, it does not meet the goals it set for itself. If the Constitution does not work, this fact would be important to know. And if the goals the Constitution set for itself are sound, failure to meet them should provoke some change in affairs. Posing and answering the question whether the Constitution works is more than academic. What then is the Constitution to effect beyond the operation of the federal government and the union of the states? Two answers to this question predominate.' The first is that the Constitution is to secure liberty, broadly understood.2 Unconvinced as we are of ultimate good, at least as a polity, we require a constitution to mediate among competing interests and so allow each of us the broadest mutual sway.3 This liberal answer4 has the Constitution maximize individual freedom.s * Professor, Regent University School of Law. B.A. Yale University, J.D. University of Virginia. The author thanks Mary Bunch, William Cox, Brad Jacob, Greg Jones, The Federalist Society, and especially Will Gates, for their assistance. 1. See, e.g., Richard H. Fallon, Jr., Commentary, What Is Republicanism, and Is It Worth Reviving?, 102 HARV. L. REV. 1695 (1989); James A. Gardner, Can Party Politics Be Virtuous?, 100 COLUM. L. REv. 667 (2000); Timothy L. Hall, Religion and Civic Virtue. A Justification of Free Exercise, 67 TUL. L. REV. 87 (1992); Cass R. Sunstein, Interest Groups in American Public Law, 38 STAN. L. REv. 29 (1985); Steven M. Tipton, Republic and Liberal State. The Place of Religion in an Ambiguous Polity, 39 EMORY L.J. 191 (1990). 2. See, e.g., Douglas Laycock, Federalism as a Structural Threat to Liberty, 22 HARV. J.L. & PUB. POL'Y 67, 71 (1998) (The Constitution protects liberty against government and against concentrations of power within government.). 3. See U.S. CONST. pmbl. (the U.S. Constitution was ordained, partly, to establish Justice and insure domestic Tranquility). 4. See Suzanna Sherry, Civic Virtue and the Feminine Voice in Constitutional Adjudication, 72 VA. L. REv. 543, 561 (1986) (Based on the 'psychology of temptation and the politics of suspicion, the Constitution of 1787, and especially the Bill of Rights of 1789, represent a triumph of modern liberalism over classical republicanism.). 1

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most