NEW FEDERALIST-PAPERS - ESSAYS IN DEFENSE OF THE CONSTITUTION - BRINKLEY,A, POLSBY,NW, SULLIVAN,KM

In this review, Professor Calabresi argues that the New Federalist Pap ers is an impassioned collection of short essays that defend national government power and the constitutional status quo from a flood of rec ent conservative and libertarian proposals far constitutional amendmen t and reform. Professor Calabresi offers five criticisms of what he pe rceives to be a defense of the constitutional underpinnings of Big Gov ernment. First, he argues that the authors are quite wrong to associat e their defense of national government power with the views of the Fra mers of our Constitution. Second, he defends our current election laws and political party system and argues against government regulation o f political speech. Third, he argues that the authors' opposition to r ecent proposals to amend the Constitution is undemocratic and smacks o f ancestor worship. Fourth, he criticizes the authors for undervaluing : (a) local communitarianism; (b) racially neutral electoral districts ; (c) reserved state powers under the Constitution; and (d) market-ori ented critiques of the provision of public goods exclusively through c ommand-and-control bureaucratic mechanisms. Fifth, he finds the author s' concern over the privatization of public discourse to be overstated and he finds their concluding defense of our constitutional status qu o to be too unsympathetic to the frustration millions of Americans fee l at an overly powerful and distant national government.