Original Meanings by Jack Rakove
What did the U.S. Constitution originally mean, and how can we recover the intentions of its framers? These questions, which resound throughout today's most heated legal and political controversies, lie at the heart of Jack N. Rakove's splendidly readable work of historical analysis. In Original Meanings, he traces the complex weave of ideology and interests from which the Constitution emerged and shows how Americans have attached different meanings to their founding document from the moment it was published. Original Meanings examines the classic issues that the framers of the Constitution had to solve: federalism, representation, executive power, individual rights, and the idea that the Constitution itself should become supreme law. Rakove pays particular attention to James Madison, the Constitution's presiding genius, whose brilliance shaped the document's framing, ratification, and amendment. The result is a major work of reinterpretation that should be read by every student of American history, law, and politics.
Jack Rakove is the W. R. Coe Professor of History and American Studies and professor of political science at Stanford University, where he has taught since 1980. He is the author of four books: The Beginnings of National Politics: An Interpretive History of the Continental Congress (1979); James Madison and the Creation of the American Republic (revised edition, 2001); Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution (1996), which won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize in history; and Declaring Rights: A Brief History with Documents (Bedford/St. Martin's, 1997). He has also contributed essays and articles to numerous scholarly collections, law reviews, and newspapers. In 1998 he testified at the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee hearings on the background and history of impeachment and has served as a consultant and expert witness in the recent litigation over the use of sampling procedures in the decennial federal census.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780394578583 |
| ISBN 10 | 0394578589 |
| Title | Original Meanings |
| Author | Jack Rakove |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Knopf |
| Year published | 1996-03-26 |
| Number of pages | 439 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |