Constitution and the Pride of Reason

Attempting to realize Plato''s vision of a republic governed by "reason," American constitutionalists, according to Steven D. Smith''s bold new critical study, have instead reenacted the Tower of Babel myth, producing a constitutional discourse marked by rampant confusion, elaborate sophistry, and thinly veiled authoritarian bullying. How is it that the pursuit of such lofty aims by yesterday''s f...