Book Description
This book argues that the Constitution has a dual nature. "Constitutional interpretation," on which legal scholars have focused, is the degree to which the Constitution acts as a binding set of rules that can be neutrally interpreted and externally enforced by the courts against government actors. But according to Keith Whittington, the Constitution also permeates politics itself, to guide and constrain political actors in the very process of making public policy. Whittington characterizes this process, by which constitutional meaning is shaped within politics at the same time that politics is shaped by the Constitution, as "constitutional construction." Whittington develops his argument through intensive analyses of four important cases: the impeachments of Justice Samuel Chase and President Andrew Johnson, the nullification crisis, and reforms of presidential-congressional relations during the Nixon presidency.
"Whittington sees the Constitution not as an immutable legal document but as something more fluid and more mysterious, a powerful and authoritative force which constantly influences political outcomes while itself being subject to politics. Battles over constitutional construction are of course political battles ... [and] Whittington has interesting things to say about the way these conflicts play out." --Peter A. Jay, Washington Times
Peter Jay, Washington Times, August 8, 1999
Mr. Whittington sees the Constitution not as an immutable legal document but as something more fluid and more mysterious, a powerful and authoritative force which constantly influences political outcomes while itself being subject to politics. Battles over constitutional construction are of course political battles and as Mr. Whittington notes, they aren't often dignified. But messy or not, they play an important role in the way our government evolves, and Mr. Whittington has interesting things to say about the way these conflicts play out. In these as in most major disputes about constitutional meaning, the text of the written constitution itself is confusing or ambiguous. Mr. Whittington's book is a readable and scholarly study of the way our democracy has dealt with this lack of clarity and made constitutional construction part of the political process.
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