A Preface to American Political Theory

"An important and useful book for anyone trying to understand the American political order."—Choice

"Deserves serious attention and sustained discussion."—Journal of Politics

"Must be read by any serious scholar of American political thought and American constitutionalism."—Social Science Quarterly

"This important and valuable book should be consulted by anyone writing in American political thought."—Journal of American History

"Lutz isolates core rules for analyzing important questions of self-government. He articulates well the complexity of assessing American political theorizing about real political problems. He draws our attention especially to significant textual and theoretical works that outline the richness of the American traditions."—George J. Graham, Jr., Professor of Political Science, Vanderbilt University

"This book is not only a grand argument in favor of giving American political thought its due, but it is a tour de force of reasoned argument and analysis that blends history, law, political science, and philosophy. Lutz concentrates on the founding era and rescues the study of early American constitutionalism from the intellectual morass into which advocates of original intent, on the one hand, and proponents of constitutional interpretation as judicial fiat, on the other, have placed it. He does so by liberating the study of American political theory from narrow empiricism while showing that systematic empirical analysis is an essential part of that theory. The result is a powerful, persuasive, and long needed book that elevates the thought and action of the founding generation of this nation into a preface for understanding the evolution of American political theory generally."—Kermit L. Hall, Dean, Henry Kendall College of Arts and Sciences, University of Tulsa, and author of The Magic Mirror: Law in American History

"A masterful introduction to the study of American constitutional documents from a philosophic perspective. It will be used with great profit for many years by students of the subject."—Daniel J. Elazar, author of The American Constitutional Tradition