The US Constitution is a blueprint for a free society as well as a source of enduring conflict over how that society must be governed. The competing ways of reading our founding document shape the decisions of the Supreme Court, which acts as the final voice on constitutional questions. This citizen's guide explains the central conflicts that frame our constitutional controversies, written in clear non-academic language to serve as a resource for engaged citizens, both inside and outside of an academic setting. -- Publisher description.

Introduction : the constitution and Bong Hits for Jesus -- The core disagreement : how should we read the constitution? -- Judicial review : is it legitimate and expansive, or questionable and limited? -- Rights : are they individual or collective? -- Federalism : must we have one national standard? -- Liberty : does the constitution invoke ordered liberty or pure liberty? -- Religion : is the constitution a religious or secular document? -- Transcendence : do transcendent principles exist in the constitution? -- Social facts : should the Court move ahead of society or wait for social change? -- Precedent : should we follow or break from the history of the Court? -- Completeness : what else do we need to read? -- Textualism -- Common law constitutionalism -- Originalism -- Living constitutionalism -- Comparing schools of interpretation -- Points of conflict & schools of thought in a landmark case : Roe v. Wade -- Contemporary landmark cases : from Phelps to Obamacare -- Conclusion : reading the constitution for ourselves.