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Tag Archives: Constitution
Speaking Freely
Vincent Blasi, one of this country’s leading experts on civil liberties and constitutional law, discusses the limits and meaning of the free speech clause of the First Amendment to the U. S. Constitution from historical and contemporary perspectives.
Ratifying the Constitution
Michael Lienesch and Michael Gillespie participated in a recent conference at the National Humanities Center on the ratification of the American Constitution. They are co-editors of a forthcoming collection of essays entitled Ratifying the Constitution: Ideas and Interests in the Several American States.
Creating the Constitution
Is the American constitution an ideal blueprint for politics in the United States? Or should we, in the words of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, resist a complacent belief in the wisdom of the framers of our principal governing document? Michael Curtis and Stephen Conrad discuss the rights and privileges of American citizenship as set forth in the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. John Wilson discusses the relationship between church and state at the time of the creation of the American Constitution.
Knowing the Constitution
September 17, 1987, is Constitution Day. How well do Americans know their principal governing document? This edition of Soundings presents two replies to that question, one by Michael Kammen and the other by Joyce Appleby. Joyce Appleby’s books include Capitalism and a New Social Order and Economic Thought and Ideology in Seventeenth-Century England. Michael Kammen’s book on the Constitution,A Machine That Would Go of Itself, won the Francis Parkman Prize at the 1987 meeting of the Society of American Historians.
American Federalism
Two hundred years ago in Philadelphia, 55 delegates debated the proposed constitution of the United States. Those in favor were federalists, those against were anti-federalists. The federalists prevailed. Yet, according to William Allen, it’s inaccurate to overlook the contribution of anti-federalist theory to the evolution of American political thought.
Religion and Government in America
The protection of religious freedom was a central concern to the framers of the American Constitution, an issue ultimately addressed in the Bill of Rights. In 1987, the relationship between church and state remains a central concern in American culture. As part of a series of discussions on the bicentennial of the U. S. Constitution, Soundings this week examines freedom of religion in America.
America at the Founding
In two conversations on this edition of Soundings, Lance Banning describes aspects of James Madison’s role in the founding of the American republic and Stephen Conrad discusses James Wilson, a prominent framer of the U.S. Constitution and a member of the first Supreme Court of the United States.
Interpreting the Constitution
How should the Supreme Court and American jurisprudence best interpret the Constitution of the United States–as a living document responsive to contemporary social issues, or as a changeless cultural touchstone mined from the intentions of America’s 18th-century founders?
English Law and Politics, Medieval to Modern
How did English society develop its legal and political canons? How did medieval English legal culture find expression in later English politics? Donald Sutherland discusses medieval English law reports and James Epstein outlines the importance of what he terms British constitutionalist idiom in the 18th and 19th-centuries.
American Origins: Variety and Purpose
About two hundred years ago, America found itself on the eve of its constitutional convention, the process by which the aims and ideals of the revolution became politically explicit. What were the circumstances of life in the early republic? How did Americans think about and express the beginnings of their national identity?
Republics, Ancient and Modern Part 2
In response to a question about what kind of government had emerged from the American constitutional convention in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin is reported to have said, A republic ? if you can keep it. Franklin’s remark underscores the fragile but durable nature of republican forms of political administration. From beginnings in antiquity through contemporary deliberations about concepts and practice, republican forms of government are important to both popular and academic audiences.
Edmund Burke and Modern Conservatism, Part 2 of 5
Joseph Hamburger, Harvey Mansfield, Paul Kress, and Lewis Lispsitz begin by discussing Burke’s conservative views on natural law (contrasted with “positive” / man-made law or moral theory). They also describe how natural law fits with Burke’s views on prudence, justice, geographical morality, and civility. Natural law is discussed in the context of the British constitution and empire, the governorship in India of Warren Hastings (1732 – 1818), and the political ties connecting Britain, Ireland, and India. The speakers explain Burke’s thoughts about the rights of man, cultural and political independence, imperial rule, and moral claims arising from the conflicts and disparities separating theory from political practice. Though he is now known as the founder of modern conservatism, some of Burke’s social political views (such as fighting against the oppression of Irish-Catholics or supporting the American Revolution) are more similar to the modern liberal party stances. One speaker outlines Burke’s beliefs in “prescription” rights and culture of individual societies, as well as Burke’s opposition to the use of power to exploit natural rights. Burke is described as a middle-of-the-road politician who supported the status quo, opposed political ideologies, and wanted to address the real grievances of citizens. The speakers end by debating how Burke’s views are received and applied in 1983.
At the time of this interview, Hamburger was professor of political science at Yale University. Mansfield was a Fellow at the National Humanities Center (1981-83) and professor of government at Harvard University. Kress was professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Lipsitz was professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
This edition of Soundings was conducted by Wayne J. Pond.
American Political Leadership, Then and Now
James MacGregor Burns examines the similarities and the contrasts in leadership qualities of the Founding Fathers and of contemporary political leaders. He argues that the fragmentation of contemporary politics makes it difficult for politicians to become effective leaders. He also notes that America requires political leaders, such as Thomas Jefferson, who are willing to reassess and reform the political system.
At the time of this interview, James M. Burns, professor of political science at Williams College, was a participant in a conference at the National Humanities Center devoted to the themes of “Liberty and Equality under the Constitution.”
This edition of Soundings was conducted by Wayne J. Pond.