Academic

Legal Theory Bookworm

By Lawrence Solum

The Legal Theory Bookworm recommends Constitutional Goods by Alan Brudner. Here is a description:

In Constitutional Goods, Alan Brudner distills the essentials of liberal constitutionalism from the jurisprudence and practice of contemporary liberal-democratic states and argues that the model liberal-democratic constitution is best understood as a unity of three constitutional frameworks: libertarian, egalitarian, and communitarian. Each of these has a particular conception of public reason. Brudner criticizes each of these frameworks insofar as its organizing conception claims to be fundamental, and moves forward to suggest an Hegelian conception of public reason within which each framework is contained as a constituent element of a whole.

When viewed in this light, the liberal constitution embodies a surprising synthesis. It reconciles a commitment to individual liberty and freedom of conscience with the perfectionist idea that the state ought to cultivate a type of personality whose fundamental ends are the goods essential to dignity. Such a reconciliation, the author suggests, may attract competing liberalisms to a consensus on an inclusive conception of public reason under which political authority is validated for those who share a confidence in the individual's inviolable worth.

And from the reviews:

"A major contribution to political philosophy and constitutional theory. The book provides a fascinating and persuasive exposition of the foundations of liberal constitutionalism, supporting its majestic ambitions with powerful abstract analysis and finely nuanced detail. The philosophical argument and case-law analysis are skillfully integrated, as good constitutional theory requires. It is a challenging work in every sense of the word, but beautifully presented in an elegant and economically written style. It is altogether a superb achievement; and no serious constitutional theorist can ignore its powerful claim on his attention"--University of Toronto Law Journal

"This is a major contribution to constitutional scholarship, one that bears comparison with any work of constitutional scholarship to have been published in recent times --Public Law

"A sweeping and original line of argument that challenges current orthodoxy"--The Cambridge Law Journal

Full post as published by Legal Theory Blog on May 23, 2009 (boomark / email).