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4. The Constitutionalist Challenge to American Communitarianism
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Chapter
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c h a p t e r f o u r The Constitutionalist Challenge to American Communitarianism The United States is currently witnessing a heated debate between two distinct ideological camps over the constitutionally endorsed merits of liberal individualism , state neutrality, and democratic majoritarianism. Similar to the one that pitted the eighteenth-century Federalists against their Anti-Federalist rivals, the contemporary dispute once again ponders the all-important issues of political modeling and public order. More specifically, with the rise in popularity of communitarian theory over the last few decades, the very foundation of a liberal-democratic constitutional regime is now under attack. Is the notion of a political order that places greater value on individual freedom than on the collective consciousness a concept that is now outdated? Should our constitutional system continue to permit, and even celebrate, an individual’s mostly uninhibited freedom of choice, or should it strive to order its institutions so that free choice is somewhat limited but community-based deliberative decisions about the good are permanently fostered? Is the best vision for a political order one that places ultimate authority in the hands of independent individuals, or, instead, in those of collectively deliberating communities ? Finally, would our answers to these and other questions di√er if we 114 The Communitarian Constitution did not face a future made increasingly uncertain as a result of the events of September 11, 2001? As part of the recent communitarian opposition to the tenets of modern liberal theory, those theorists who most enthusiastically advocate the principles of the community canon cannot avoid commenting on the appeal of a constitutional order that incorporates mostly liberal ideals. Even though the vast majority of communitarians overlook the issue of constitutional ordering, it is a mistake to believe that they do not have an instinctive opinion on the merits of certain constitutional forms.∞ H. N. Hirsch correctly notes that although none of the contemporary communitarian scholars presents a straightforward account of the mechanisms needed to maintain a communitarian polity, we would be remiss if we did not recognize that any general challenge to liberalism includes a specific challenge to those constitutional orders that embrace the liberal creed. Hirsch is suggesting that as an inseparable part of their general resistance to liberal theory, communitarians must also seriously oppose the image of the liberal constitution.≤ This is so mainly because the overarching liberal-communitarian battle is inherently a political contest centered on the proper ordering of society’s institutions and values. To say that a society run by Mill’s or Locke’s or even Rawls’ understanding of liberty is seriously troubling also suggests that any constitution subscribing to those principles of individual freedom and autonomy is probably doomed. Similarly, to claim that identifying the conception of the good is and must be a collective decision rather than a personal one is to insist that any constitutional ordering of procedures, institutions, and values that does not comply with an equally consistent form of communalism is problematic. Yet challenging the properties of liberal constitutions is much di√erent than o√ering a fully developed communitarian constitutional vision. In fact, constitution making may prove to be a rather arduous task for the communitarian sympathizer, since it is more di≈cult to conceive of a working constitutional scheme than it is to criticize ones that inform and animate already extant political societies. Communitarian theory is now at the point at which it needs to look precisely at the first principles of political regimes. Indeed, the communitarian theoretical impulse continues to claim that a complete overhaul of the liberal image—from the self to the polity—is warranted because of the massive decay and detachment that accompanies a society bent on celebrating hyperindividualism . But if the communitarian movement is serious about its plan and seeks [54.147.102.111] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 13:37 GMT) The Constitutionalist Challenge 115 to move beyond the realm of theory into the world of real politics, that proposed overhaul must commence with the adoption of an authoritatively functioning communitarian constitution. If not immediately, then soon thereafter, the community-based reform movement must consider the importance of constitutionally grounding the principles of communitarian thought in the words of an organizing text. The Classical Theory of Constitutionalism By nature, the constitutionalist is a pessimist. Any conception of constitutionalism and any corresponding push to draft a constitutional text stems initially from a belief in the inherent corruptibility and imperfectability of human nature. The...