We the people

In We the People, historian and Harvard professor Jill Lepore presents a sweeping new history of the U.S. Constitution, published in honor of the nation’s 250th anniversary. While the Constitution is one of the world’s oldest, it is also among the hardest to amend—of nearly 12,000 proposed amendments, only 27 have been ratified, and none meaningfully since 1971. Drawing on her groundbreaking Amendments Project, Lepore reveals how ordinary Americans have long sought to change the Constitution, often without success, and argues that the framers intended it to evolve through democratic amendment rather than violence or judicial decree. Challenging the dominance of originalism and the Supreme Court’s monopoly on interpretation, Lepore restores the philosophy of amendment to its central place in American constitutionalism. Both urgent and hopeful, We the People invites readers to see the Constitution not as untouchable, but as the living foundation for a more perfect union.

Details:

• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 592
• Genre: History, Politics, Law, Constitutional Studies