Liberty, Property, and the Foundations of the American Constitution

by Ellen Frankel Paul (Editor), Howard Dickman (Editor)

Overview

Here is what the Framers of the Constitution thought about economic rights. To the current debate over constitutional interpretation, this book adds a dispassionate examination of our beginnings. It focuses on the philosophical, political, and social currents that influenced the thought and behavior of the Framers.

What was the relationship between property rights and liberty? How important to the Framers was the protection of economic liberties? In what ways does the Constitution protect these liberties? Was the Constitution a document forged with the intent of securing what would later be called a capitalist system? Or were the Framers primarily concerned with promoting a society based upon civic virtue? These are a few of the major themes that the authors of this volume address.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780887069154
Publisher:	State University of New York Press
Publication date:	12/20/1988
Series:	SUNY series in The Constitution and Economic Rights
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	181
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Ellen Frankel Paul is Deputy Director of the Social Philosophy and Policy Center and Professor of Political Science at Bowling Green State University. Howard Dickman is a Research Associate at the Social Philosophy and Policy Center at Bowling Green State University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments


Introduction


The Contractarian Logic of Classical Liberalism
JAMES M. BUCHANAN


Public Choice Constitutionalism and Economic Rights
MARK TUSHNET


Civil Rights and Property Rights
WILLIAM H. RIKER


Judicial Activism of the Right: A Mistaken and Futile Hope
LINO A. GRAGLIA


Economic Liberty and the Future of Constitutional Self-Government
STEPHEN MACEDO


Tutelary Jurisprudence and Constitutional Property
FRANK MICHELMAN


Takings: Of Maginot Lines and Constitutional Compromises
RICHARD A. EPSTEIN


The Politics of the New Property: Welfare Rights in Congress and the Courts and the Courts
R. SHEP MELNICK


Work, Government, and the Constitution: Determining the Proper Allocation of Rights and Powers
THOMAS R. HAGGARD


The Right to Organize Meets the Market
LEO TROY


Contributors


Index