This book explores critical questions pertaining to the character and content of the “American People” as posited in the US Supreme Court’s interpretation of the fundamental law. What exactly is an American? Who or what comprise the People?  What are the constitutive sociocultural, political, and economic ordering principles of the American People and society? How does the Court impact the nationalist character and content of law and policy? From a sociocultural, economic, political, and ideological perspective, the Court’s singular proclamations as to what the US Constitution means, what is its purpose, and how it is to be perceived and implemented have profound consequences for representational politics and notions of what exactly constitutes the American polity. This book employs a critical, conceptual, and structural approach, critically examining the notion of the People in constitutional discourse, and its impact on government, politics, law, and society in the present.

Marvin L. Astrada is a Lecturer in the Politics & History Department at New York University in Washington D.C., USA. He holds a PhD in Politics and International Relations, and a JD. His research, focusing on the intersection between law, politics, and society, has appeared in various law journals and peer reviewed books.