The Citizen's Constitution

September 14, 2009
Inspiring, but also vague, eccentric and sometimes dysfunctional: that's the picture of the Constitution that emerges from this annotated guide. Lipsky, founding editor of the Jewish Forward
and the defunct New York Sun
, writes extended notes on every phrase in the Constitution and amendments, including obscure elements like letters of marque and reprisal. Citing commentators and landmark Supreme Court cases, he gives an evenhanded account of evolving interpretations of the Constitution and its influence on governance and politics. Lipsky's own predilections show mainly in his resurrection of the anti-Federalists and modern-day defenders of state sovereignty. While highlighting the Constitution's quirks, Lipsky says little about larger issues like the Senate's unequal representation of voters. This is a lively curio shop of Constitutional law and lore, but lacks analytic depth.

October 15, 2009
What are the frameworks through which we govern our country? In separate texts, Rakove and Lipsky provide annotated analysis of our founding U.S. documents. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Rakove (history & political science, Stanford Univ.; "Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution") presents both the Declaration and the Constitution with carefully laid out annotation that's accessible to general readers as well as high school and college students. His extended introduction provides a readable and instructive analysis of how the writing of the Constitution progressed, especially on matters concerning representation, executive power, and creation of the amendments. His annotations often rely upon contemporary usage and meaning from the time of the Declaration of Independence and Constitutionuseful for students to understandand he compares such usage to other documents of the time.

Lipsky (founding editor, "New York Sun") provides a lay reader's guide to the Constitution in a readable journalistic style. He refers to standard texts such as M. Farrand's multivolume "Records of the Federal Convention of 1787", as well as letters and periodical pieces from the time of the document's development. In many provisions, Lipsky provides historical background, giving a broader social and political context than Rakove, and often cites conflicting opinions regarding the meaning of particular words or phrases. Rakove recognizes that the "precise meaning" of terms at the time of the documents' creation might not be ascertainable, and he offers reasonable interpretations to indicate constitutional implications of such terms through case law or congressional statutes. VERDICT The books are not strictly duplicative. Lipsky connects the Constitution to 21st-century issues, while Rakove, with more accessible annotations relating to key ideas and terms, shows links between the Declaration and Constitution. Both Rakove's and Lipsky's approaches are highly recommended for general readers and undergraduates who want an initial understanding of the Declaration and Constitution.Steven Puro, St. Louis Univ.

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