Living Originalism

Originalism and living constitutionalism, so often understood to be diametrically opposing views of our nation’s founding document, are not in conflict—they are compatible. So argues Jack Balkin, one of the leading constitutional scholars of our time, in this long-awaited book. Step by step, Balkin gracefully outlines a constitutional theory that demonstrates why modern conceptions of civil rights and civil liberties, and the modern state’s protection of national security, health, safety, and the environment, are fully consistent with the Constitution’s original meaning. And he shows how both liberals and conservatives, working through political parties and social movements, play important roles in the ongoing project of constitutional construction.

By making firm rules but also deliberately incorporating flexible standards and abstract principles, the Constitution’s authors constructed a framework for politics on which later generations could build. Americans have taken up this task, producing institutions and doctrines that flesh out the Constitution’s text and principles. Balkin’s analysis offers a way past the angry polemics of our era, a deepened understanding of the Constitution that is at once originalist and living constitutionalist, and a vision that allows all Americans to reclaim the Constitution as their own.

Rejecting the false dichotomy between constitutional originalism and theories of the living constitution, Balkin (constitutional law, Yale Law School) offers a theory of "framework originalism" that views the US Constitution "as an initial framework for governance that sets politics in motion" and demands ongoing constitutional construction together with an associated theory of interpretation and construction, the method of "text and principle," which requires fidelity to the rules and standards stated by the Constitution's text and the principles underlying the text, as adapted to current circumstances, thus presenting an approach that is at once both originalist and living constitutionalist. Such an approach requires as much attention to institutional developments and state building processes (such as the Congressional establishment of new executive departments or frameworks of civil rights protection) that themselves have relied on interpretation of constitutional principles (beyond the specifics of the constitutional text's given rules) as it does to judicial doctrines and decisions. This approach allows each generation of Americans to seek to persuade each other about how text and principle can apply to changing circumstances and problems over time and thus brings social movements into the understanding of the development of constitutional law. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Originalism and living constitutionalism, often seen as opposing views, are not in conflict. So argues Jack Balkin, a leading constitutional scholar, in this long-awaited book. Step by step, Balkin shows how both liberals and conservatives play important roles in constitutional construction, and offers a way past the angry polemics of our era.

Jack M. Balkin is Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment and Director of the Information Society Project and the Knight Law and Media Program, all at Yale Law School.