Secularization, Religiosity, and the United States Constitution

This article draws upon leading works in the sociology of religion to assess what I shall call the secularization claim regarding the United States. It endeavors, in particular to clarify the possible meanings of secularization, and then to use these conceptual refinements to examine what sort of evidence exists that the United States has been secularized. Though it is not possible to falsify every version of the secularization claim, there is little evidence to support it, especially in its most prominent and politically relevant variations. The article then goes on to offer a preliminary analysis of to what extent, if any, are constitutional factors responsible for sustaining a public culture in the United States that is, by comparison to most other nations, durably religious. The article identifies four constitutional or quasi-constitutional factors that sociologists and political scientists have suggested might be partly responsible for the vigor of American religion: disestablishment, the fragmentation of political authority, ethnic diversity and immigration, and provocative judicial decisions. The article concludes by recommending that scholars who are interested in the conditions that sustain religious activity and other forms of civic association in the United States should pay more attention to the constitutional fragmentation of political authority. La Conception Américaine de la Laïcité, Symposium. University of Paris II (Panthéon-Assas) – Paris, France, January 28, 200

Politics and Personalities in the Federal Appointments Process

Michael Gerhardt\u27s latest book, The Federal Appointments Process, examines historically both the politics and procedures employed by the president and Congress in selecting, and ultimately appointing, judicial nominees. In this book review, Professor Christopher Eisgruber focuses on some of Gerhardt\u27s most salient observations and illustrates the degree to which the historical trends Gerhardt describes impact current appointment practices

Constitutional Self-Government and Judicial Review: A Reply to Five Critics

Several of my critics argue as though the central purpose of Constitutional Self-Government were to defend an aggressive form of judicial review, in which all, or nearly all, moral issues are decided by judges. But that is not my goal. Instead, Constitutional Self-Government targets the common view that even if judges can protect rights or advance principles ofjustice better than can legislatures, judicial review is nevertheless at least problematic, and perhaps undesirable, because it is undemocratic

Democracy, Majoritarianism, and Racial Equality: A Response to Professor Karlan

Only with great trepidation do I undertake to comment upon Professor Karlan\u27s fine Article.1 Much of what I know about voting rights law I have learned from her work, and her contribution to this Symposium is characteristically erudite, detailed, and cogent. I will therefore limit myself to offering four modest observations about her argument. My central point is simple: While Professor Karlan successfully identifies several empirical questions that critics of majority- black voting districts must answer, those same questions also raise problems for defenders of majority-black districts (including Professor Karlan herself). Professor Karlan\u27s argument is directed against what I shall call the Assembly Backlash Hypothesis : the idea that districting plans that increase the number of black legislators may nevertheless produce legislative assemblies less receptive to black interests. The Hypothesis maintains that by packing minority voters into a few districts, racial gerrymanders increase the likelihood that the state\u27s remaining districts will elect representatives hostile to minority interests. If the Assembly Backlash Hypothesis were true, it would provide a reason for proponents of minority rights to oppose the creation of majority-black districts. Such districts might do nothing more than produce token representatives who would be doomed to lose again and again in unsympathetic assemblies. Professor Karlan demonstrates that the Assembly Backlash Hypothesis holds only when multiple conditions are met. Some of these conditions describe the nature of black political interests: Black political interests must differ from white political interests (otherwise there would be no need to worry that black representatives would become persistent losers in unsympathetic legislatures), but they must not differ too radically (otherwise black voters could never form coalitions with white voters). Other conditions apply to white political behavior: If whites resent black political power, then white voters may realign to oppose black interests whenever black voters acquire sufficient clout to influence an election. Professor Karlan concludes that the truth of the Assembly Backlash Hypothesis depends on the ability of black voters to reinforce the power of the Democratic political party. [V]irtual, party-based representation is the key to any realistic account of how [the Assembly Backlash Hypothesis] works, says Professor Karlan

Justice and the Text: Rethinking the Constitutional Relation Between Principle and Prudence

The work in this thesis concerns mechanisms of excitability of neurons. Specifically, it deals with how neurons respond to input, and how their response is controlled by ion channels and other active components of the neuron. I have studied excitability in two systems of the nervous system, the hippocampus which is responsible for memory and spatial navigation, and the peripheral C–fibre which is responsible for sensing and conducting sensory information to the spinal cord. Within the work, I have studied the role of excitability mechanisms in normal function and in pathological conditions. For hippocampus the normal function includes changes in excitability linked to learning and memory. However, it also is intimately linked to pathological increases in excitability observed in epilepsy. In C–fibres, excitability controls sensitivity to responses to stimuli. When this response becomes enhanced, this can lead to pain. I have used computational modelling as a tool for studying hyperexcitability in neurons in the central nervous system in order to address mechanisms of epileptogenesis. Epilepsy is a brain disorder in which a subject has repeated seizures (convulsions) over time. Seizures are characterized by increased and highly synchronized neural activity. Therefore, mechanisms that regulate synchronized neural activity are crucial for the understanding of epileptogenesis. Such mechanisms must differentiate between synchronized and semi synchronized synaptic input. The candidate I propose for such a mechanism is the fast outward current generated by the A-type potassium channel (KA). Additionally, I have studied the propagation of action potentials in peripheral axons, denoted C–fibres. These C–fibres mediate information about harmful peripheral stimuli from limbs and organs to the central nervous system and are thereby linked to pathological pain. If a C–fibre is activated repeatedly, the excitability is altered and the mechanisms for this alteration are unknown. By computational modelling, I have proposed mechanisms which can explain this alteration in excitability. In summary, in my work I have studied roles of particular ion channels in excitability related to functions in the nervous system. Using computational modelling, I have been able to relate specific properties of ion channels to functions of the nervous system such as sensing and learning, and in particular studied the implications of mechanisms of excitability changes in diseases.  QC 20102423</p