Madison v. Marshall: Popular Sovereignty, Natural Law, and the United States Constitution

Popular sovereignty or natural law? At a time of constitutional crisis in the American body politic, Guy Padula’s work suggests that the answers to heated political debate can only be found by scrutinizing the past. In Madison v. Marshall Padula turns the spotlight on the interpretive intent of America’s founding fathers to discover if the consent of the people or the rule of justice triumphs. Comparing the constitutional theories of the founding generation’s two pre-eminent constitutional authorities Padula shatters the Originalist myth that Madison and Marshall shared a compatible constitutional jurisprudence. He concludes that the meaning of the Constitution has been contested from the outset. This should be useful reading for legal scholars, political scientists and historians seeking to learn more about the fundamental nature of US law and how it should be interpreted.