Constitutional Idolatry and Democracy: Challenging the Infatuation with Writtenness

Constitutional Idolatry and Democracy: Challenging the Infatuation with Writtenness

This thought-provoking book by Brian Christopher Jones entitled Constitutional Idolatry and Democracy begins by retelling the moment when, during the highly disputed election period of 2016 in the United States of America, an elector waived his pocket-sized US Constitution before Donald Trump. The gesture was a symbol. A silent but taunting manifestation against the president-to-be, and his supposed lack of understanding of the nation’s ‘most sacred values and principles’ (p. 1). The whole scene and the events that followed (including the spike in sales of pocket-version constitutions) were an expression of a deeper sentiment common to, but not exclusive of, the United States of America: constitutional idolatry.

Saeger M Costa, Renato

The University of Queensland Law Journal; Vol. 40 No. 2 (2021): The University of Queensland Law Journal; 301-305

1839-289X

0083-4041

The University of Queensland School of Law

2021-06-29

Copyright (c) 2021 The University of Queensland Law Journal

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