Originalism and living constitutionalism, so often understood to be diametrically opposing views of our nation's founding document, are not in conflict--they are compatible. So argues Jack Balkin, one of the leading constitutional scholars of our time, in this long-awaited book. Step by step, Balkin gracefully outlines a constitutional theory that demonstrates why modern conceptions of civil rights and civil liberties, and the modern state's protection of national security, health, safety, and the environment, are fully consistent with the Constitution's original meaning. And he shows how both liberals and conservatives, working through political parties and social movements, play important roles in the ongoing project of constitutional construction. By making firm rules but also deliberately incorporating flexible standards and abstract principles, the Constitution's authors constructed a framework for politics on which later generations could build. Americans have taken up this task, producing institutions and doctrines that flesh out the Constitution's text and principles. Balkin's analysis offers a way past the angry polemics of our era, a deepened understanding of the Constitution that is at once originalist and living constitutionalist, and a vision that allows all Americans to reclaim the Constitution as their own.

杰克·M.巴尔金(Jack M．Balkin，1956一)，现任耶鲁大学法学院宪法学与第一修正案奈特教授，耶鲁大学信息社会项目创始人和负责人、耶鲁大学奈特法律和传媒项目负责人、艾布拉姆斯表达自由学会负责人、美国艺术与科学学院院士，并创建法律博客“巴尔金之家”(Balkinization)。1978年和1981年分别获得哈佛大学学士学位和法律博士学位，1995年获得剑桥大学哲学博士学位。主要代表作有：《活的原旨主义》(Living Originalism，Harvard University Press，2011)、《宪法救赎：对不公世界的政治信仰》(Constitutional Redemption：Political Faith in an Unjust World，Harvard University Press，2011)；《2020年的宪法》(与丽娃·西格尔合编)(The Constitution in 2020，Oxford University Press，2009)；《文化软件：一种意识形态理论》(Cultural Software: A Theory of Ideology．Yale University Press，1998)等。