A Constitution in Full

“An important contribution to a larger trend that brings attention to the relational dimensions of constitutional order, countering the distorting lenses provided by modern iterations of Puritan collectivism and southern individualism.”—The University Bookman

“This book makes a thoughtful effort to make sense of the bewildering phenomena of American politics in the last fifty years.”—Review of Politics

"Reinsch and Lawler have written an extraordinary defense of conservative constitutionalism, one that speaks powerfully to our present discontent."—National Review

“Peter A. Lawler and Richard M. Reinsch have identified the malady plaguing American constitutionalism in our day: a desiccated Lockeanism that makes an idol of individual choice at the expense of political life. Equally important, they have found a remedy in the unwritten constitution as well as the rich and neglected thought of Orestes Brownson. This study is a fitting denouement of Lawler’s vast and deep corpus of work, and in making A Constitution in Full an indispensable book in full, Reinsch has proven himself a worthy successor to the scholar who taught him and so many others so much.”—Greg Weiner, author of American Burke: The Uncommon Liberalism of Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Madison’s Metronome: The Constitution, Majority Rule, and the Tempo of American Politics

“This provocative and unusual interpretation of the American constitutional tradition takes Orestes Brownson (1803–1876) as its inspiration and guide. A socialist before socialism in his youth, Brownson converted to Catholicism in his maturity, which was when he reflected on the unwritten constitution that makes America’s written constitution work. Brownson’s idea of an unwritten constitution is the touchstone for Professors Lawler and Reinsch’s analysis, and one does not have to agree with their interpretation to profit from their distinctive understanding of what constitutionalism means.”—James Russell Muirhead Jr., Robert Clements Professor of Democracy and Politics, Dartmouth College