Publication Date

Winter 1996

Journal

Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy

Abstract

The question why we should be bound by the original Constitution often is framed as why we should be guided by the dead hand of the past. The notion that this venerable document should be viewed as a possibly unfortunate constraint on our present potential as a society contains an implicit premise about man in history. According to this view, it is open to man to make his history in each generation through some collective cultural process. Given such a premise, it seems plausible to believe that each generation should enjoy the opportunity to decide anew whether to submit to the constitutive law of society that previous generations developed through some past process.

Volume

19

Issue

2

First Page

251

Last Page

262

Publisher

Harvard Society for Law & Public Policy, Inc.

Keywords

Constitutional Law, New Deal, Social Programs, Politics (General)

Disciplines

Constitutional Law | Law

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