The Classical Liberal Constitution
- ISBN-10
- 0674727800
- ISBN-13
- 9780674727809
- Category
- Law
- Pages
- 700
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2014-01-01
- Publisher
- Harvard University Press
- Author
- Richard A. Epstein
Description
American liberals and conservatives alike take for granted a progressive view of the Constitution that took root in the early twentieth century. Richard Epstein laments this complacency which, he believes, explains America's current economic malaise and political gridlock. Steering clear of well-worn debates between defenders of originalism and proponents of a living Constitution, Epstein employs close textual reading, historical analysis, and political and economic theory to urge a return to the classical liberal theory of governance that animated the framers' original constitutional design. Grounded in the thought of Locke, Hume, Madison, and other Enlightenment figures, classical liberalism emphasized federalism, restricted government, separation of powers, and strong protection of individual rights. New Deal progressives challenged this synthesis by embracing government as a force for social good rather than a necessary evil. The Supreme Court has unwisely ratified the progressive program by sustaining many legislative initiatives at odds with the classical liberal Constitution. Epstein addresses both the Constitution's structural safeguards against state power and its protection of individual rights. He sheds light on contemporary disputes ranging from presidential prerogatives to health care legislation, while exploring such enduring topics as judicial review, economic regulation, freedom of speech and religion, and equal protection.
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
Skepticism and Freedom: A Modern Case for Classical Liberalism
By Richard A. EpsteinWith this book, Richard A. Epstein provides a spirited and systematic defense of classical liberalism against the critiques mounted against it over the past thirty years.
-
Public Governance and the Classical-Liberal Perspective: Political Economy Foundations
By Peter J. Boettke, Paul Dragos Aligica, Vlad TarkoA distinctive perspective on governance: the building blocks -- Classical liberalism : delineating its theory of governance -- Function, structure, and process at the private-public interface -- Dynamic governance : the polycentrism process ...
-
Classical Liberalism – A Primer
By Eamonn ButlerThis primer aims to provide a straightforward introduction to the principles, personalities and key developments in classical liberalism.
-
Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain
By Richard A. EpsteinIn Batten v. United States,^ the question, as stated by the court, was "whether a taking of property, compensable under the Fifth Amendment, occurs when there is no physical invasion of the affected property but the operation and ...
-
Race and Liberty in America: The Essential Reader
By Jonathan BeanDescribed an “ultraconservative” in the Progressive Era, Louis Marshall was anything but: his classical liberal passions moved him to found the American Jewish Committee, become a lawyer for the National Association for the Advancement ...
-
The Constitution of Freedom: An Introduction to Legal Constitutionalism
By András Sajó, Renáta UitzIn this book, Andras Sajo and Renata Uitz explore how constitutionalism protects us and how it might be undone by its own means.
-
Liberalism and American Constitutional Law
By Rogers M. SmithSmith analyzes the liberal goals of the framers of the Constitution and the weaknesses of their political thought...This book will undoubtedly be the focus of debate in scholarly and legal circles for years to come.
-
Principles For A Free Society: Reconciling Individual Liberty With The Common Good
By Richard A. Epstein, A EpsteinSims, 24 S,W.2d 619 (Ky. 1929) 230-1, 340 Edwards v. Lee's Administrator, 96 S.W.2d 1028 (Ky. 1936) 340 Ensign v. Walls, 34 N.W.2d 549 (Mich. ... City of Cambridge, 932 F.2d 51 (Mass. 1991). 334 Gilmer v. Interstate/Johnson Lane Corp., ...
-
How Progressives Rewrote the Constitution
By Richard A. EpsteinThis book shows that our modern “constitutional law,” fashioned largely by the New Deal Court in the late 1930s, has its roots in Progressivism, not in our country's founding principles, and how so many of those ideas, however ...
-
Liberalism and Distributive Justice
By Samuel FreemanSamuel Freeman is a leading political philosopher and one of the foremost authorities on the works of John Rawls.