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Free eBook – The Constitution: Understanding America’s Founding Document

For well over two centuries, the Constitution has served as a charter for a free, democratic government and for a country that has risen from a dicey political experiment to an economic and political superpower. In the history of the world, there is nothing like it.

In “The Constitution: Understanding America’s Founding Document,”Michael S. Greve explains how to think seriously about the United States Constitution and constitutions in general. What are constitutions supposed to do, and what can they accomplish? Why was the specific form of the Constitution—including both its structure and its rights catalogue—so important? Why is the Constitution so difficult to amend? Greve provides a fresh perspective on the Constitution’s structure and our enduring constitutional controversies, from federalism and the separation of powers to slavery, civil rights, and the administrative state.

“The Constitution” is a primer in the Values & Capitalism series AEI has intended for college students, but will be given out here all week for everyone’s reading pleasure.

In “The Constitution: Understanding America’s Founding Document,” Michael S. Greve explains how to think seriously about the United States Constitution and constitutions in general. What are constitutions supposed to do, and what can they accomplish? Why was the specific form of the Constitution — including both its structure and its rights catalogue — so important? Why is the Constitution so difficult to amend? Greve provides a fresh perspective on the Constitution’s structure and our enduring constitutional controversies, from federalism and the separation of powers to slavery, civil rights, and the administrative state.

Also: Watch Mini Movie – “Our Virtuous Republic: The Forgotten Clause in the American Social Contract”

Table of contents: “The Constitution: Understanding America’s Founding Document”

1. Introduction

2. Constitutional Politics

3. Constitutional Principles and Structure

4. Competition

5. Federalism

6. Constitutional Rights and Structure

7. Judicial Review

8. Slavery and the Second Founding

9. The Administrative State

10. Constitutional Change and Fidelity

11. Conclusion: Constitutionalism in Our Time

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Watch Mini Movie – “Our Virtuous Republic: The Forgotten Clause in the American Social Contract”

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Richard D. Baris

Rich, the People's Pundit, is the Data Journalism Editor at PPD and Director of the PPD Election Projection Model. He is also the Director of Big Data Poll, and author of "Our Virtuous Republic: The Forgotten Clause in the American Social Contract."