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2 Concordia L. Rev. 1 (2017)

handle is hein.journals/concordia2 and id is 1 raw text is: CONCORDIA LAW REVIEW VOL. 2 MARCH 2017 NO. 1 ARTICLES THE OTHER PREAMBLE: CIVIC CONSTITUTIONALISM AND THE PREAMBLE TO THE BILL OF RIGHTS John E. Finn* This Article considers the civic constitutionalist nature of the Preamble to the Bill of Rights. Civic constitutionalism is a mode of reading constitutional texts that considers power in political, as opposed to legal, terms. Thus, the civic constitution gives citizens, not judges, the primary duty for ensuring a constitutionally compliant society. This Article also presents the underlying reasons, effects, and costs of the obscurity of the civic constitution and, more specifically, the Preamble to the Bill of Rights. INTRODUCTION........................................................2 I. PREAMBULAR PROVISIONS AS CLAIMS ABOUT CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY. ..................................................... ......8 II. THE CONSTITUTION AS A TEXT OF CIVIC INSTRUCTION . ................13 A. Misconstruction or Abuse.......................19 B. Public Confidence and Beneficence ......... ............23 C. Declaratory and Restrictive...........................30 1. The Meaning of Declaratory.........................30 2. The Meaning of Restrictive..........................32 3. Which is Which.?..................................34 4. Reading Individual Provisions.........................36 5. In Addition to, and Amendment of ................40 11. CONCLUSION........................................................43 * Professor of Government, Wesleyan University. Ph.D Princeton University (1986), J.D. Georgetown University Law Center (1981), B.A. Nasson College (1978). Finn's most recent book is Peopling the Constitution (2014).

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