In
reviewing Akhil Reed Amar’s book, America’s Constitution: A biography (hardcover,
2005), Bryan W. Brickner finds a missing shall and more than just traces of
post-modernism in the post, “Amar’s Absent Shall in America’s Constitution.”
The
Bryan William Brickner blog is an ongoing resource for the political science of
constitutions; Brickner
has a 1997 political science doctorate from Purdue University and is the author
of several political theory books, to include The Promise Keepers (1999),
Article the first of the Bill of Rights (2006), and The Book of the Is (2013).
“The
absent shall from Amar’s book,” Brickner observed, “undermines his theoretical approach
to the US Constitution. In missing an imperative in Article I (a shall), his
biography reads like a post-modern text – in this case, masking a basic reality
– the constitutional definition of We the People.”
Akhil Reed Amar is an American legal scholar, author of several books on the US
Constitution, and teaches constitutional law as a professor at Yale College and
Yale Law School.
“The
key moment is on page 76,” Brickner explained, “where Amar’s text leads the
reader to a falsehood; when discussing the Constitution’s representation ratio in
Article I, Amar reads shall as ‘should’ and not as a command – a constitutional
imperative.”
“The
legal meaning of shall isn’t contentious,” closed Brickner, “which is why it’s
there.”
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Released On: 12/31/2014
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Released On: 12/25/2014
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Released On: 12/24/2014
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Released On: 11/27/2014
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Released On: 11/11/2014
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Released On: 11/10/2014
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Released On: 11/9/2014
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Belief in oneself is the conjured ideal presented in a Halloween dialogue between authors Bryan W. Brickner and Stephen Young. This year’s dreamscape has Robert E. Lee standing with Revolutionary War rebel John F. Pettigrew, with Lee holding a (p ...
Released On: 10/31/2014
Views: 8897
Biology and botany clash in today’s cannabinoid research from the National Institutes of Health (PubMed). Publius of The Cannabis Papers looks at five 2014 articles on the cannabinoid system modulating homeostasis and sleep, with a special focus ...
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Equinox and Homeostasis are mid-point extremes that modulate our lives much like the serotonin (5-HT, 5-hydroxytryptamine) in our brains. In five (brief) science stories based on new research from the National Institutes of Health (PubMed), autho ...
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Released On: 9/17/2014
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Yankee Doodle Dandy and the Spirit of ’76 are showcased in the ninth posting of the summer War Cry Heal Union series from Ew Publishing. Author Bryan W. Brickner places Civil War Private Augustus (Gus) Kotka and Johnny Reb in a “spirited” dialogu ...
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Homeostatic cannabinoid science is the focus found in new research articles from the National Institutes of Health (PubMed), including one on the de-homeostatic (harmful) effects of chronic alcohol use to one’s cannabinoid system. Publius of The ...
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An 18th century wonder, America’s First Amendment, is honored in a posting for the summer War Cry Heal Union series from Ew Publishing. Author Bryan W. Brickner highlights Western Civilization’s free speech tradition by contrasting it with two ...
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The nuances of citizenship in the (new) US Republic are detailed in posting 7.5 of the summer War Cry Heal Union series from Ew Publishing. Author Bryan W. Brickner notes the ins and outs of George Washington’s ideas on citizenship through his wo ...
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Civil wars and constitutional representation are talked of in the seventh posting of the summer War Cry Heal Union series from Ew Publishing. Author Bryan W. Brickner honors the 150th anniversary of Private Augustus Kotka’s last day on earth ~ by ...
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