Table Of ContentCONSTITUTIONAL
LITERACY
A Twenty-First Century Imperative
Christopher Dreisbach
Constitutional Literacy
Christopher Dreisbach
Constitutional
Literacy
A Twenty-First Century Imperative
Christopher Dreisbach
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
ISBN 978-1-137-56798-7 ISBN 978-1-137-56799-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-56799-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016950640
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For America’s Peace Offi cers, the advance guard
of constitutional protections.
P
REFACE
The US Constitution matters. As the “supreme law of the land,” the
Constitution is at the heart of civic life in the USA and central to the
role that the USA plays on the global stage. In American civic life, p ublic
offi cials enter their profession by swearing an oath to protect, preserve,
and defend the Constitution. Non-sworn USA citizens and visitors
often invoke the Constitution in word and deed. Sometimes these non-
sworn invoke the Constitution intentionally as a premise in a statement
or c onversation about their rights and responsibilities; sometimes these
non-s worn invoke the Constitution implicitly when they vote, serve on a
jury, or choose to obey or violate a law.
The Constitution also stands fi rmly at the center of the USA’s involve-
ment in world affairs: politically, socially, and economically. Never legally
or morally free from the Constitution’s constraints, global representatives
of the USA—whether from the military, business, politics, charitable
organizations, or as private citizens—are bound by the Constitution and
the laws it sanctions.
All of this has been the case since New Hampshire was the ninth state
to ratify the Constitution, in 1788. But thanks to the Internet and social
media, more people than ever before have a chance to participate in the
public conversation, whether it be about the community’s rights and
responsibilities or the rights and responsibilities of the public offi cials who
serve the community—and are members of it. In short, democracy has
the chance to fl ourish in ways it could not have before the advent of the
present technologies.
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viii PREFACE
Because of the same technologies the moral and legal spotlight on USA
government offi cials and other participants in USA civic life has never
been brighter. Reports of someone’s deeds, especially if heroic or outra-
geous, may “go viral” in an instant, with no thought to a presumption of
the agent’s innocence or to getting the whole story. People may weigh
into the public conversation with the possibility of a vast audience hearing,
if not listening to, the contribution.
At the same time, evidence suggests a pervasive lack of constitutional
literacy among the sworn and non-sworn participants in USA civic life. In
the absence of such literacy, fulfi llment of the oath to the Constitution,
discharge of non-sworn civic responsibilities, or the exercise of legal rights
have no guarantee of success. To be sure, even the most constitution-
ally literate sometimes fail to act as they should or to construct a valid
argument as to why one should act that way, but they are free from a lack
of knowledge that compounds the problem.
Thus, an increase in constitutional literacy is imperative on two levels:
more people have to attain constitutional literacy, and even those with
some degree of constitutional literacy could be more literate.
Having said this, one faces at least the following questions: what is
constitutional literacy? What evidence is there for its pervasive lack? So
what—what value is there to constitutional literacy? How might one assess
someone’s constitutional literacy? How might one promote or encourage
constitutional literacy? Given the work on these questions so far, what
relevant work lies ahead?
The purpose of this book is to address these questions—in that order.
The book is not primarily an attempt to add content to anyone’s consti-
tutional literacy—there are many books that do this well. These books
include annotated Constitutions, and such topics as American history,
political and legal theory, and biographies of constitutional luminaries.
This book offers some examples that might add to the reader’s
repertoire, but the book’s primary purpose is to cast its vote for promoting
constitutional literacy among sworn and non-sworn stakeholders in the
Constitution. As a growing chorus attests, there is an urgency to this effort
that makes better constitutional literacy imperative.
A
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
There are many people to thank for helping produce this book. First is
Mireille Yanow, publisher at Palgrave Macmillan and a consummate pro-
fessional with whom I have worked before. Her wisdom, enthusiasm, and
kindness know no bounds. Second is my wife Rebecca, who took time out
of her scholarly and professional pursuits to help me with mine. Rebecca’s
help ranged from collecting and analyzing data and other information,
suggesting better ways of making a point, and reading through the docu-
ment for content, clarity, and consistency. Third is my friend, colleague,
and constitutional mentor, Lawrence Coshnear, Esq. Larry has kept me
well supplied with bibliographic and scholarly information that makes up
a considerable portion of this book. Larry also offered invaluable sug-
gestions for shaping my thought about this effort, noting especially the
important difference between the anatomy of the Constitution and its
physiology—the latter involving the Constitution put into practice. Fourth
are all of my students from the world of public safety, who have let me try
out on them many of my ideas for this book and who have taught me a
great deal in return. Fifth is the Philosophy Group with whom I have met
once a month since 1992. Like Larry Coshnear, a long-time member of
this group, its members have patiently let me try out my ideas and develop
my thoughts, and they have taught me a great deal in the bargain. Sixth is
my friend Mark Komrad, MD, a polymath who graciously and frequently
brings his intelligence and interests to bear in helping me re-right my
scholarly efforts. He helped me see the difference between trying to add
to one’s constitutional literacy and advocating for such an increase—with
this book taking the latter tack. Seventh are the folks at The Evergreen
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