The Summer 2023 issue of the Journal of American Constitutional History is now online.
Constructing a Modern Canon for The Federalist by Sanford Levinson
To what extent do legal academics, historians, political scientists, and high school teachers actually assign any of the The Federalist?
The Executive Branch and the Origins of Judicial Independence, by Kevin Arlyck
Most accounts of the federal judiciary’s rise to independence tell a story in which the courts consolidated their authority—especially the power of judicial review—by tacitly agreeing to withdraw from partisan politics. But as this article shows, the most insistent assertions of judicial inviolability came not from courts, but instead from the executive branch officials.
Strategic Ambiguity and Article VII: Why the Framers Decided Not to Decide, by Roderick M. Hills, Jr.
By reducing the power of the Federalist agenda-setters to force through specific constitutional language with a reversion threat, the presumption of ambiguity respects contemporary norms of fair dealing, thereby advancing the goal of popular sovereignty with which Federalists defended the Constitution’s legitimacy.
Interpreting Ratification, by Andrew Coan and David S. Schwartz
A proper interpretation of the ratification debates undermines any principled originalist case for limiting federal power. It also calls into question the resolving power of originalism as a practical method for deciding controversial cases.
--Dan Ernst
