Consider the Constitution

Constitutional Endurance with Dr. Beau Breslin

February 14, 2024 The Robert H. Smith Center for the Constitution Season 1 Episode 14
Constitutional Endurance with Dr. Beau Breslin
Consider the Constitution
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Consider the Constitution
Constitutional Endurance with Dr. Beau Breslin
Feb 14, 2024 Season 1 Episode 14
The Robert H. Smith Center for the Constitution

Inside the debate between James Madison and Thomas Jefferson over the endurance of the U.S. Constitution. Jefferson believed that each generation should rewrite the Constitution, while Madison argued for a Constitution that endures over time to build up necessary reverence and respect. Host Dr. Katie Crawford-Lackey is joined by Skidmore College Political Science Professor Dr. Beau Breslin to discuss the implications if Jefferson's argument had prevailed and what it would mean for political engagement today.

Professor Breslin is the author of A Constitution for the Living: Imagining How Five Generations of Americans Would Rewrite the Nation’s Fundamental Law. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2021.

Show Notes

Inside the debate between James Madison and Thomas Jefferson over the endurance of the U.S. Constitution. Jefferson believed that each generation should rewrite the Constitution, while Madison argued for a Constitution that endures over time to build up necessary reverence and respect. Host Dr. Katie Crawford-Lackey is joined by Skidmore College Political Science Professor Dr. Beau Breslin to discuss the implications if Jefferson's argument had prevailed and what it would mean for political engagement today.

Professor Breslin is the author of A Constitution for the Living: Imagining How Five Generations of Americans Would Rewrite the Nation’s Fundamental Law. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2021.