The Presence of the Past: Essays on the State and the Constitution

The Johns Hopkins Series in Constitutional Thought

by Sheldon S. Wolin

All constitutions are ultimately about power, Sheldon Wolin about how power is used and by whom, according to what understandings, and to whose advantage. The provisions of our own Constitution regarding slavery―and disregarding women―show that even a liberal constitution does not legitimate all types of politics. What is constituted, rather, are conditions that favor certain forms of politics over others. The Presence of the Past explores the relationship between present-day American politics and the COnstitution of 1787. Wolin does not attempt to establish the "real" meaning of the document or the "intent" of the Founders. ("A constitution is not a revelation and the Philadelphia Convention was not an epiphanic moment.") Instead, he examines the Constitution from a breathtaking variety of perspectives, drawing meanings from the text that is our richest source of American values, myths, ideologies, and theories. And he shows how the Constitution created the American version of the modern state and how the ideology of bicentennialism works to obscure the contradictions between the state and democracy. In a variety of ways, The Presence of the Past concerns itself with kinds of loss―the loss of democratic values, the weakening of democratic elements in our institutions, the stifling of democratic hopes. In the explorations of our constitutional culture, Wolin connects a wide range of topics, from a discussion of the Federalist Papers to the Irangate scandal, from the dieas of Montesquieu and Tocqueville to the political implications of Allan Bloom's polemic on education.

Genres: History, Political Science

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Sheldon Sanford Wolin was an American political theorist and writer on contemporary politics. A political theorist for fifty years, Wolin became Professor of Politics, Emeritus, at Princeton University, where he taught from 1973 to 1987.

Reviews

[Greg Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of essays on the US as a democracy both constituted by but but not limited to its constitutional structures, one that veers between bangers and shower thoughts.

Wolin is a good enough writer that it all flows, though—and for being written in 1989, many of his insights still hit. A nice, lighter read that really makes me want to check out his better-known books!

[Socraticgadfly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of basic issues of citizenship and participatory democracy in the light of American revolutionary history and the Constitution. Highly recommended reading for any would-be or budding left-liberal.

While not taking a Beardian economics angle on the creation of the constitution, Wolin does note that its most specifically "republican" features are arguably its most anti-democratic, and not by accident. He goes on to a thorough analysis of The Federalist, Hobbes, Locke and other empiricists, the contract theory of government (and Hume generally not indulging that, and generally not being an influence on the founders) and more.

Finally, in anticipating themes later expressed in "Democracy Incorporated," he notes how today's republicanism-capitalism alliance is used to try to turn participatory citizens into election-time voters.

[Timothy McCluskey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wolin's essay on Birthright is seminal. His analysis of the difference between contractual and transformational relationships in the political arena is very important. Our current practice of 'marketing' politics not only reduces citizenship to a passive state, it robs us of the power to act on our work behalf. Citizenship is not longer a value, preferences replace dialogue and negotiation.