Defending the Republic : Constitutional Morality in a Time of Crisis; Essays in Honor of George W. Carey

From the earliest church covenants and compacts of the Puritans to the present day, Americans have seen their Constitution as a fundamental bulwark of liberty and limited government. This collection of essays, intended to honor and further understanding of the work of one of the nation’s foremost constitutional scholars, Georgetown University’s George W. Carey, analyzes the origins of public order in America and in constitutional government more generally.

The contributors discuss and develop Carey’s key insights, including his argument that constitutional government cannot survive without general adherence to a “constitutional morality” binding political actors to the limited roles laid out for them in our frame of government. The essays further delineate a series of issues at the heart of American constitutionalism: Why should political actors respect constitutional restrictions on their exercise of power? What role has the drive to increase the power of political majorities played in the development or derailment of the American political tradition? And what effect have debates and developments regarding presidential power, foreign policy, and judicial review had on our constitutional system? 

Bruce P. Frohnen is Professor of Law at Ohio Northern University College of Law.