The New Federalist Papers
Sadly, the American public has become disconnected from its founding document, the Constitution. Knowledge of civics is so deplorable that few people can identify the three branches of government, let alone the constitutional bases for them. Most Americans have never read the Constitution. Even law students studying Constitutional Law learn mainly about Supreme Court decisions interpreting the Constitution—and arcane “theories” of interpretation— not the actual text. This ignorance has permitted the Supreme Court (and elected officials) to manipulate the Constitution, in the process allowing the Leviathan state to expand beyond the narrow limits intended by the Framers.
Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) intends to correct that with his fine new book, Our Lost Constitution. The book is primarily directed at a lay audience, in the nature of the essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay in 1787-88, popularly known as The Federalist Papers. Those essays, published in newspapers in the states critical to ratification of the freshly-drafted Constitution, engaged the public in an intelligent conversation about the structure and operation of the federal government. Lee seeks to begin a similar dialogue, regarding how far we have strayed from the original understanding.
Read More at The American Spectator
