An excellent sampling of current thinking in the theory and practice of constitutionalism. Each essay was written specifically for this volume by well-known legal and political philosophers. . . . All in all, a first-rate and provocative example of contemporary philosophical concerns. Choice In our constitutional democracy, the dissent and conflict that are the inevitable consequence of free political dialogue point to the importance of reexamining the philosophical premises on which our conceptions of society and government are based. This volume of original essays reviews the foundations of constitutionalism in classical liberal thought and looks at contemporary philosophical perspectives on a wide range of constitutional issues. Written by a distinguished group of philosophers and constitutional scholars, it provides a deeper understanding of the U.S. Constitution as a political instrument and examines the idea of constitutionalism as it functions in our modern world.

Few subjects in contemporary philosophical and political debate are more cloaked in ambiguity than the issue of coercion -- whether on an individual or global scale or in areas as diverse as family relations, employment, and international finance. In this first full-length treatment of the topic, Professor Rosenbaum carefully reviews previous thinking on this question and develops a persuasive original theory focusing on the conceptual relationship between human social autonomy and coercion.