Erler on Citizenship

Prof. Ed Erler of CSUSB writes in “Defining Citizens” that the notion of birthright citizenship is not something that should be assumed: By itself, birth within the territorial limits of the United States, as the case of the Indians indicated, did not make one automatically “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States. And “jurisdiction” did not mean simply subject to the laws of the United States... 

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The Constitution at Last

Charles Kesler (Claremont-McKenna College) has a nice essay on the importance of the Constitution.  Is the Constitution important?  Should it be so?  We are reminded of this from the recent Ryan v. Brooks debate at AEI.  There are real differences about the value of the Constitution (read, the meaning of America).  Kesler points out the debate crosses political boundaries: For the Framers, rights were attributes of individual... 

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Liberty, Law, & James Wilson

We commend to your reading this essay:  James R. Zink, “The Language of Liberty and Law:  James Wilson on America’s Written Constitution,” American Political Science Review 103, no., 3 (August 2009) :  442-455 See here for the blog post on this essay.  Read More →

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The Center Welcomes Michael Zuckert

Michael P. Zuckert, Ph.D Speaking Monday, March 15th: “Slavery & the Constitutional Convention of 1787” Zuckert (B.A., Cornell University; Ph.D, University of Chicago, 1974) is a Notre Dame professor, and has written on the Constitution, the American Founding, and John Locke. He is the Nancy Reeves Dreux Professor, works in political philosophy, American constitutional law and theory, and American political thought.... 

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