The Constitution and Public Policy in U.S. History

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THE THE THE CONSTITUTION CONSTITUTION CONSTITUTION AND AND AND PUBLIC POLICY PUBLIC POLICY PUBLIC POLICY IN IN IN U.S. HISTORY U.S. HISTORY U.S. HISTORY E dited by JULIAN E. ZELIZER and BRUCE J. SCHULMAN ZELIZER & SCHULMAN PENN STATE PRESS The United States Constitution, drafted by the fifty-five delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787, was the first written constitution in modern history. The delegates who came to Philadelphia believed that a comprehensive written constitution was essential to the full expression of the belief that government was an instrument of a sovereign people. Thomas Jefferson expressed this innovative principle, deeply rooted in the habits and style of Anglo-American legal thought, when he declared, “Our peculiar security is the possession of a written constitution.” The essays in The Constitution and Public Policy in U.S. History, edited by Julian E. Zelizer and Bruce J. Schulman, show that legal and constitutional debate over matters of policy has a long history in America. This volume reveals that such debate is perennial to a democracy, and that while political conflicts over the meaning of the Constitution and specific policies are not easily resolved, even more difficult are the lessons of learning how to balance order and freedom, individual rights and community responsibilities, and liberty and democracy in this fragile entity we call the American Republic. Julian E. Zelizer is Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University. Bruce J. Schulman is Professor of History at Boston University. ISSUES IN POLICY HISTORY Previous books in the series include: THE CONSTITUTION AND PUBLIC POLICY IN U.S. HISTORY ISBN: 978-0-271-03534-5 9 780271 035345 9 0 0 0 0 Civil Rights in the United States Edited by Hugh Davis Graham The Constitution and Public Policy in U.S. History Edited by Julian E. Zelizer and Bruce J. Schulman Drug Control Policy: Essays in Historical and Comparative Perspective Edited by William O. Walker III Environmental Politics and Policy, 1960s to 1990s Edited by Otis L. Graham Jr. The Future of the Democratic Left in Industrial Democracies Edited by Edwin Hargrove Health Care Policy in Contemporary America Edited by Alan I. Marcus and Hamilton Cravens Integrating the Sixties: The Origins, Structures, and Legitimacy of Public Policy in a Turbulent Decade Edited by Brian Balogh Loss of Confidence: Politics and Policy in the 1970s Edited by David Brian Robertson Money and Politics Edited by Paula Baker New Directions in Policy History Edited by Julian E. Zelizer New Perspectives on Public Health Policy Edited by James Mohr The Politics of Abortion and Birth Control in Historical Perspective Edited by Donald T. Critchlow Refugees and the Asylum Dilemma in the West Edited by Gil Loescher Ruling Passions: Political Economy in Nineteenth-Century America Edited by Richard R. John Urban Public Policy: Historical Modes and Methods Edited by Martin A. Melosi The Pennsylvania State University Press University Park, Pennsylvania www.psupress.org The Constitution and Public Policy in U.S. History JPH_FM 2/21/09 12:00 PM Page I Issues in Policy History General Editor: Donald T. Critchlow JPH_FM 2/21/09 12:00 PM Page II ...