Murphy then offers an expository analysis of constitutional maintenance, adaptation, and, essentially, constitutional change.
Winner, 2007 Best of the Social Sciences, Association of American Publishers' Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division
Winner, Association of American Publishers' Professional and Scholarly Publishing Award in Government and Politics
In this engaging and provocative work, Walter F. Murphy combines a lifetime's study of constitutions and democracy with traditional storytelling to answer fundamental questions about constitutional democracy: How is it created? How is it maintained? How can it be adapted to changing circumstances?
Murphy tells the story of how a democracy is established within the context of a fictional constitutional convention for a fictional country. He follows delegates--many of whose arguments track those of real-life political, economic, and legal theorists--as they debate and draft the components of a constitution. The reader comes to understand and appreciate the components of a constitutional text and the contingency and potential of the constitution-making process. Murphy then offers an expository analysis of constitutional maintenance, adaptation, and, essentially, constitutional change.
"This fine book brings to bear Walter Murphy's manifold gifts: breadth of knowledge about political systems around the world and throughout history, keen critical learning about ancient and modern political thought, deep understanding of constitutional law, and a clear and clever style."--Perspectives on Politics
"This is a significant, impressive work of constitutional theory in its largest and most important sense."--Choice
"The phrase 'instant classic' may be an oxymoron, but if it can be fairly applied to any recent work in the field of constitutional theory, this is the one."--Law and Politics Book Review
"Constitutional Democracy is an extraordinarily ambitious book, taking as its model nothing less than Aristotle's Politics."--Claremont Review of Books
Walter F. Murphy (1929-2010) was the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence Emeritus at Princeton University and a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association. He was the author of numerous scholarly books, articles, and textbooks, as well as several novels, including Vicar of Christ.
