Constitutional Culture and Democratic Rule

Murphy Institute Studies in Political Economy

by John A. Ferejohn (Editor), Jack N. Rakove (Editor), Jonathan Riley (Editor)

This interdisciplinary volume focuses on constitutional democracy, with special reference to the United States. The editors and contributors conceive of a constitutionalism as an ongoing process in which most members of a given community rely on certain cultural norms and practices to identify and interpret constitutional rules (written or unwritten as the case may be) that limit government power, and divide it among competing groups of leaders such that no single group has unchecked authority to pass statutes or to interpret the constitution when disputes arise.

430 pages, Hardcover

First published October 8, 2001