Constitutional theory is one of the great growth industries of
our time and, like personal computers, it appears to have an
almost infinite capacity for market expansion. Much of the new
literature, alas, seems to be preoccupied with politically
fashionable deconstructions of our founding documents. The
acidic effect of this teaching has made its way into numerous
high school and college texts, with the result that students who
know little about the Declaration of Independence, the
Federalist, or, for that matter, about the separation of powers
or federalism, are nevertheless utterly confident that racism
and sexism were alive and well in Philadelphia in 1787. Since
the original Constitution appears to have been fatally flawed,
students are left defenseless when told that a "living"
Constitution is the only kind worth having and that it must fall
to the Supreme Court to define its terms. Correcting this bias
is no easy matter, and we should be grateful when thoughtful
scholars undertake to present judicial op