Originalism, Federalism, and the American Constitutional Enterprise: A Historical Inquiry

In this lively historical examination of American federalism, a leading scholar in the field refutes the widely accepted notion that the founding fathers carefully crafted a constitutional balance of power between the states and the federal government. Edward A. Purcell Jr. bases his argument on close analysis of the Constitution€™s original structure and the ways that structure both induced and accommodated changes over the centuries. There was no clear agreement among the founding fathers regarding the “true€ nature of American federalism, Purcell contends, nor was there a consensus on “correct€ lines dividing state and national authority. Furthermore, even had there been some true “original€ understanding, the elastic and dynamic nature of the constitutional structure would have made it impossible for subsequent generations to maintain a