Liberal Constitutionalism and its Contemporary Challenges

The edited volume brings together contemporary work by philosophers, legal scholars, and political theorists. This volume presents relevant understandings of the common good, democracy, liberty, and law, and situates them in the context of contemporary countervailing pressures posed by issues in education, access to medical treatment in a pandemic, and the media.  Motivated to ascertain how democracy is threatened by a variety contemporary challenges, the authors examine core aspects of law, representative democracy, and constitutionalism to shed light on worrisome contemporary phenomena such as social media-driven conspiracy theories, unequal access to education and medical treatment, among other topics.

Introduction.- Part I.- Is the American Form of Government a Democracy? Signs of Systemic Oligarchy in Direct and Representative Democracy.- Truth Matters: Factual Accuracy, Theoretic Rationality, and the Legitimacy of Political Decision-Making.- Learning How to Read: Legal Hermeneutics.- Deference without Virtue: A Concern for Common Good Constitutionalism.- Dworkinian Protestantism, Civil Disobedience, and Democratic Citizenship.- Constructive Interpretation, Democracy, and the Protestant Attitude.- Part II.- Structural Injustices in the Educational System, Inequality, and its Effects on Democracy.- The Black Scare.- Representative Democracy, the Right to Vote and the Weighting of Votes.- The Importance of Condorcet Consistency in Preserving Democracy.- Comprehensive Pluralism, Liberalism, and Religious Liberty.

Prof. Gordon A. Babst teaches political philosophy and theory, and has published on the threats religion has posed to liberal-democratic norms in pluralist societies.

Prof. Renée Nicole Souris is assistant professor at Florida Institute of Technology where she teaches legal and political theory. Her research applies ideas of virtue ethics to various topics including child soldiers, international law, and immigration.

Prof. Joan McGregor is a professor of philosophy and faculty head in the School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies. She teaches and does research on legal and political philosophy.