Limited Government and the Bill of Rights
- ISBN-10
- 082627272X
- ISBN-13
- 9780826272720
- Category
- Political Science
- Pages
- 210
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2012-07-15
- Publisher
- University of Missouri Press
- Author
- Patrick M. Garry
Description
Eric Hoffer Award Grand Prize Short List, 2015 What was the intended purpose and function of the Bill of Rights? Is the modern understanding of the Bill of Rights the same as that which prevailed when the document was ratified? In Limited Government and the Bill of Rights, Patrick Garry addresses these questions. Under the popular modern view, the Bill of Rights focuses primarily on protecting individual autonomy interests, making it all about the individual. But in Garry’s novel approach, one that tries to address the criticisms of judicial activism that have resulted from the Supreme Court’s contemporary individual rights jurisprudence, the Bill of Rights is all about government—about limiting the power of government. In this respect, the Bill of Rights is consistent with the overall scheme of the original Constitution, insofar as it sought to define and limit the power of the newly created federal government. Garry recognizes the desire of the constitutional framers to protect individual liberties and natural rights, indeed, a recognition of such rights had formed the basis of the American campaign for independence from Britain. However, because the constitutional framers did not have a clear idea of how to define natural rights, much less incorporate them into a written constitution for enforcement, they framed the Bill of Rights as limited government provisions rather than as individual autonomy provisions. To the framers, limited government was the constitutional path to the maintenance of liberty. Moreover, crafting the Bill of Rights as limited government provisions would not give the judiciary the kind of wide-ranging power needed to define and enforce individual autonomy. With respect to the application of this limited government model, Garry focuses specifically on the First Amendment and examines how the courts in many respects have already used a limited government model in their First Amendment decision-making. As he discusses, this approach to the First Amendment may allow for a more objective and restrained judicial role than is often applied under contemporary First Amendment jurisprudence. Limited Government and the Bill of Rights will appeal to anyone interested in the historical background of the Bill of Rights and how its provisions should be applied to contemporary cases, particularly First Amendment cases. It presents an innovative theory about the constitutional connection between the principle of limited government and the provisions in the Bill of Rights.
Get the book
Similar books
-
James Madison and the Future of Limited Government
By John Curtis SamplesThe form of government to which Jefferson's philosophy led , in essence , was not a checked and balanced representative republic but an absolute and ... warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance ?
-
Terms of Engagement: How Our Courts Should Enforce the Constitution's Promise of Limited Government
By Clark NeilyAnyone concerned about the size of government, the sanctity of the Constitution, and the rule of law will find a refreshingly new perspective in this book written for non-lawyers and lawyers alike.
-
Limited Government: a Comparison
By Carl Joachim FriedrichLimited Government: a Comparison
-
The Federalist Papers
By Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John JayClassic Books Library presents this brand new edition of “The Federalist Papers”, a collection of separate essays and articles compiled in 1788 by Alexander Hamilton.
-
Cato Handbook For Policymakers: 7th Edition
By David BoazNow in its seventh edition, the Cato Handbook for Policymakers sets the standard in Washington for reducing the power of the federal government and expanding freedom.
-
The Constitution in Exile: How the Federal Government Has Seized Power by Rewriting the Supreme Law of the Land
By Andrew P. NapolitanoWhen he became president, Lincoln claimed that he did not intend to interfere with slavery in the Southern states, and he even went as far as saying that it would be unconstitutional for him to do so. Lincoln's compromises on the issue ...
-
Liberty and Coercion: The Paradox of American Government from the Founding to the Present
By Gary GerstleWade (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998), 241– 54. 31. Griswold v. Connecticut, 507–27; Garrow, Liberty and Sexuality, 196– 269. 32. Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438 (1972); Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973); Garrow, ...
-
The American Constitution and Ayn Rand's "Inner Contradiction"
By Henry Mark Holzer"The American Constitution and Ayn Rand's 'Inner Contradiction'" has been written for two reasons.
-
The Bill of Rights: The Fight to Secure America's Liberties
By Carol BerkinThis book is “a highly readable American history lesson that provides a deeper understanding of the Bill of Rights, the fears that generated it, and the miracle of the amendments” (Kirkus Reviews).
-
The Bill of Rights: A User's Guide
By Linda R. MonkIn The Bill of Rights: A User's Guide, award-winning author and constitutional scholar Linda R. Monk explores the remarkable history of the Bill of Rights amendment by amendment, the Supreme Court's interpretation of each right, and the ...