Book Review: Drakeman, Donald, “The Hollow Core of Constitutional Theory” (Cambridge University Press, 2021) Don Drakeman’s “The Hollow Core of Constitutional Theory” arrives at a time when Originalism faces three interrelated questions. First, does the success of the originalist project hinge on a devotion to interpreting the text of the Constitution according to its original […]
Latest Articles
What Does It Mean to Interpret the Constitution?
For virtually all of Western legal history, when judges interpreted legal texts, their goal was to identify the intent of the lawmaker. For the past 50 years, however, constitutional theorists have shifted their focus away from the Framers and have instead emphasized either the original public meaning or a host of living, common sense, consequentialist, […]
Bringing Science to Politics: The Political Philosophy of John Adams
The last thirty years have seen a resurgence of interest in John Adams. From the acclaimed biographies of David McCullough and Joseph Ellis to the works of C. Bradley Thompson, John Paynter, Jonathan Green, Luke Mayville, Sara Georgini, and Ben Peterson focusing on specific aspects of Adams’s political thought and writings, the “Sage of Braintree” […]
Between Caesar and Christ in Maryland
Book Review: Breidenbach, Michael, “Our Dear-Bought Liberty: Catholics and Religious Toleration in Early America” (Harvard University Press, 2021) Residents of Stafford County, Virginia, often drive past a large metal crucifix on Route 1. It is dedicated to the Brent family and boasts a plaque singing praises of their quiet work for religious freedom. The Brents […]
The Founders’ Disappointments
On September 17, 1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention gathered one last time in the Assembly Room of what is now Independence Hall to sign the charter that they had spent the past four months crafting. As the last of the thirty-eight signers affixed their names to the Constitution, Benjamin Franklin called attention to […]
