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The Revolutionary Constitution
David J. Bodenhamer
304 pages
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235x156mm
978-0-19-537833-7
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Hardback
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01 March 2012
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This item will be ordered from OUP USA. Items ordered from OUP USA are despatched and charged as soon as we receive them, which is normally within 2 weeks
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- Offers a new, short, up-to-date synthesis of American constitutional history
- Provides a unique thematic approach to constitutional issues
- Focuses on the nature of constitutional developments, showing how they are about more than just the decisions of the Supreme Court
The framers of the Constitution chose their words carefully when they wrote of a more perfect union—not absolutely perfect, but with room for improvement. Indeed, we no longer operate under the same Constitution as that ratified in 1788, or even the one completed by the Bill of Rights in 1791—because we are no longer the same nation.
In The Revolutionary Constitution, David J. Bodenhamer provides a comprehensive new look at America's basic law, integrating the latest legal scholarship with historical context to highlight how it has evolved over time. The
Constitution, he notes, was the product of the first modern revolution, and revolutions are, by definition, moments when the past shifts toward an unfamiliar future, one radically different from what was foreseen only a brief time earlier. In seeking to balance power and liberty, the framers established a structure that would allow future generations to continually readjust the scale. Bodenhamer explores this dynamic through seven major constitutional themes: federalism, balance of powers, property, representation, equality, rights, and security. With each, he takes a historical approach, following their changes over time. For example, the framers wrote multiple protections for property rights into the Constitution in response to actions by state governments after the Revolution. But
twentieth-century courts—and Congress—redefined property rights through measures such as zoning and the designation of historical landmarks (diminishing their commercial value) in response to the needs of a modern economy. The framers anticipated just such a future reworking of their own compromises between liberty and power.
With up-to-the-minute legal expertise and a broad grasp of the social and political context, this book is a tour de force of Constitutional history and analysis.Readership: General readers interested in the early American republic and the development of the Constitution. People curious about the origins of the Constitution, and what it means for us today.
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David J. Bodenhamer, Professor of History, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis David J. Bodenhamer is Founder and Executive Director of The Polis Center, Professor of History, and Adjunct Professor of Informatics at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis. He is the author or editor of several books on American legal and constitutional history, including Fair Trial: Rights of the Accused in American History, and is co-editor of the International Journal of Humanities and Arts Computing.
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Introduction
Chapter 1: Antecedents
Chapter 2: Revolution
Chapter 3: Mechanics
Chapter 4: Federalism
Chapter 5: Balance
Chapter 6: Property
Chapter 7: Representation
Chapter 8: Equality
Chapter 9: Rights
Chapter 10: Security
Further Reading
Index
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The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.
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