The Scepter of Reason: Public Discussion and Political Radicalism in the Origins of Constitutionalism (Law and Philosophy Library)

This book explores the origins of Anglo-American Constitutionalism, from both a philosophical and a historical perspective. It attempts to show that the institutional mechanisms incorporated into the American Constitution were modeled under a strong bias against collective discussion. The book also examines the alternative institutional system then proposed by a different and more radical tradition of thought, and evaluates this alternative from the ideal of a deliberate democracy. The Scepter of Reason challenges much of the current academic literature on the philosophical foundations of modern constitutionalism, and advances suggestions for a different approach. It will be particularly attractive for legal scholars, political scientists, and graduate and undergraduate students interested in Constitutional Theory, Anglo-American History, and Democratic Theory.