Ourselves and Our Posterity

Arguments over constitutional interpretation increasingly highlight the full range of political, moral, and cultural fault lines in American society. Yet all the contending parties claim fealty to the Constitution. This volume brings together some of America's leading scholars of constitutional originalism to reflect on the nature and significance of various approaches to constitutional interpretation and controversies. Throughout the book, the contributors highlight the moral and political dimensions of constitutional interpretation. In doing so, they bring constitutional interpretation and its attendant disputes down from the clouds, showing their relationship to the concerns of the citizen. In addition to matters of interpretation, the book deals with the proper role of the judiciary in a free society, the relationship of law to politics, and the relationship of constitutional originalism to the deepest concerns of political thought and philosophy.

At a time of unprecedented governmental activity, where the Constitution seems not even to be an afterthought in our national policy debates, the contribution of a book such as Ourselves and Our Posterity couldn’t be more important. For if we are to recover any sense of limited government, dedicated to the securing of our natural liberty, such a recovery must begin with reacquainting ourselves with the Constitution and its moral foundations. In assembling some of the finest of America’s constitutional scholars, Bradley C. S. Watson’s volume is up to the task. These essays will serve as an excellent resource for students, scholars, and citizens who wish to return the Constitution’s principles to their rightful place in our national life., Interesting and thought-provoking….Bradley C.S. Watson has assembled a delightful collection of papers on the theory and practice of constitutional interpretation….It could serve both as an introduction and as a valuable contribution to the ongoing discussion about originalism.

Bradley C. S. Watson holds the Philip M. McKenna Chair in American and Western Political Thought at Saint Vincent College and is author or editor of many books, including Civic Education and Culture, Civil Rights and the Paradox of Liberal Democracy, The West at War, and Living Constitution, Dying Faith: Progressivism and the New Science of Jurisprudence.