Constitutional construction
Subtitle: divided powers and constitutional meaning
By: Keith E. Whittington.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: 1999
Place of publication: Cambridge, Mass
Language: eng
Number of pages: 303
Subjects: Constitutional law -- United States.; Separation of powers -- United States.; Law and politics.
Description: "This book argues that the Constitution has a dual nature. The first aspect, on which legal scholars have focused, is the degree to which the Constitution acts as a binding set of rules that can be neutrally interpreted and externally enforced by the courts against government actors. This is the process of constitutional interpretation. But according to Keith Whittington, the Constitution also permeates politics itself, to guide and constrain political actors in the very process of making public policy.

In so doing, it is also dependent on political actors, both to formulate authoritative constitutional requirements and to enforce those fundamental settlements in the future. Whittington characterizes this process, by which constitutional meaning is shaped within politics at the same time that politics is shaped by the Constitution, as one of construction as opposed to interpretation."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 231-295) and index.