The Hollow Core of Constitutional Theory

Erscheinungsjahr 2021
ISBN: 978-1-108-48528-9
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 225 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 515 g

The Hollow Core of Constitutional Theory is the first major defense of the central role of the Framers' intentions in constitutional interpretation to appear in years. This book starts with a reminder that, for virtually all of Western legal history, when judges interpreted legal texts, their goal was to identify the lawmaker's will. However, for the past fifty years, constitutional theory has increasingly shifted its focus away from the Framers. Contemporary constitutional theorists, who often disagree with each other about virtually everything else, have come to share the view that the Framers' understandings are unknowable and irrelevant. This book shows why constitutional interpretation needs to return to its historical core inquiry, which is a search for the Framers' intentions. Doing so is practically feasible, theoretically defensible, and equally important not only for discovering the original meaning, but also for deciding how to apply the Constitution today.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Drakeman, Donald L.

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Systeme Staats- und Regierungsformen, Staatslehre
• Rechtswissenschaften Öffentliches Recht
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Rechtsphilosophie, Rechtsethik
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Amerikanische Geschichte
• Rechtswissenschaften Recht, Rechtswissenschaft Allgemein Rechtsphilosophie, Rechtsethik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. The Framers and Contemporary Constitutional Theory; 2. The Framers' Intentions: Who, What, and Where; 3. Original Methods and the Limits of Interpretation; 4. Original Methods Updating; 5. The Semantic Summing Problem; 6. Is Corpus Linguistics Better than Flipping a Coin?; 7. The Framers' Intentions Can Solve the Semantic Summing Problem; 8. Interpretation and Sociological Legitimacy; 9. Noninterpretive Decisions; 10. Conclusion.

Über Autor(innen)

Drakeman, Donald L.
Donald L. Drakeman is Distinguished Research Professor in the Program on Constitutional Studies at the University of Notre Dame, and a Fellow of the Centre for Health Leadership and Enterprise at the University of Cambridge. His works have been cited by the Supreme Courts of the United States and the Philippines. His books on the Constitution include Church, State, and Original Intent (Cambridge, 2009), a Choice Outstanding Academic Title.