Constitutional Construction: Divided Powers and Constitutional Meaning [Paperback]

Mr. Whittington sees the Constitution not as an immutable legal document but as something more fluid and more mysterious, a powerful and authoritative force which constantly influences political outcomes while itself being subject to politics. Battles over constitutional construction are of course political battles...[and] Mr. Whittington has interesting things to say about the way these conflicts play out.
--Peter A. Jay (Washington Times )

Constitutional Construction offers renewed vigor to a tired field and should provoke some fresh thinking by constitutional scholars.
--Jeremy Rabkin (Weekly Standard )

This book is an important addition to modern constitutional theory. Whittington brings to life an old but not well understood idea--that constitutional development is the product of judicial interpretation and binding rules and of political practice.
--J. B. Grossman (Choice )

Constitutional Construction is a fine example of institutional analysis...displays a fine feel for political nuance and sensitivity to institutional subtlety...shows that is possible to do exceptional political analysis without it becoming legalistic scholarship...[and is] exceptionally well written...Whittington's book demonstrates that political science profits handsomely from history. Political science without history isn't very good political science. And history without political science often amounts to little more than storytelling. The quality of this book's history is every bit as good as the quality of its political science.
--Craig Ducat (Law and Politics Book Review )

This is a superb, pathbreaking book that demonstrates the dual nature of constitutional change. Through a subtle analysis of congressional-presidential politics, Whittington convincingly argues that the process by which constitutional meaning is defined is not solely the purview of the Supreme Court and lesser courts. He shows that the Constitution gains meaning as a result of the politics of construction engaged in by political actors seeking political and policy objectives...[Constitutional Construction] is must reading for a wide range of scholars of American institutions and political development, law and courts, history, and American political thought.
--Ronald Kahn (American Political Science Review )

A major theoretical contribution to the perennial debate on the...fundamental, recurrent questions in American constitutional law.
--James E. Bond (Humane Studies Review )

Whittington's book is among the most important recently published about constitutional theory and history.
--Mark Tushnet (Journal of Interdisciplinary History )

Constitutional Construction provides a needed corrective to the works of constitutional theorists who focus solely on jurisprudential issues...Whittington concludes that scholars need to look beyond the courts and recognize the multifaceted nature of the Constitution.
--Michael Ross (Journal of Southern History )

Few political disputes can be settled by recourse to the specific text of the Constitution, so forms of constitutional elaboration are necessary. Constitutional interpretation is what courts do; constitutional construction is what the elected branches do . . . and the results are readily acknowledged as properly influenced by external factors such as political principle, social interests, or partisan considerations.

A fine example of institutional analysis . . . displays a fine feel for political nuance and sensitivity to institutional subtlety . . . shows that is possible to do exceptional political analysis without it becoming legalistic scholarship . . . exceptionally well written.

Whittington's book demonstrates that political science profits handsomely from history. Political science without history isn't very good political science. And history without political science often amounts to little more than storytelling. The quality of this book's history is every bit as good as the quality of its political science. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.