The United States Constitution

Chapter 1 Institutional Choices and the Preamble: It’s a Real-World Document, Not a Utopian Blueprint

Chapter 2 The Legislative Branch: It’s a Congress, Not a Parliament

Chapter 4 The Judicial Branch: It’s a Group of Lawyers, Not Platonic Guardians

Chapter 5 The Nation and the States: The Arrangement Is Federal, Not Confederal or Unitary

Chapter 6 The Constitutional Amending Process: It’s Difficult because It’s Designed to Preserve the Constitution as Fundamental Law

Chapter 7 The Bill of Rights and Freedom of Belief and Expression: They Provide for Liberty, Not License

Chapter 8 The Bill of Rights, the Right to Security, and the Rights of the Accused and the Convicted: They Protect the Guilty in Order to Protect the Innocent

Chapter 9 Equality and the Thirteenth through Fifteenth Amendments: It’s an Equality of Opportunity, Not a Guarantee of Equal Results

Chapter 10 Postscript: A Time for Reflection