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The Establishment Clause As A Structural Restraint On Governmental Power, Carl H. Esbeck
The Establishment Clause As A Structural Restraint On Governmental Power, Carl H. Esbeck
Faculty Publications
This Article inquires into whether the singular purpose of the Establishment Clause is to secure individual rights, as is conventionally believed, or whether its role is more properly understood as a structural restraint on governmental power. If the Clause is indeed structural in nature, then its task is to negate from the purview of civil governance all matters “respecting an establishment of religion.” Conceptualizing the role of the Establishment Clause as either rights-securing or structural has profound consequences for the nation's constitutional settlement concerning the interrelationship of government and religion.
Establishment Clause Limits On Governmental Interference With Religious Organizations, Carl H. Esbeck
Establishment Clause Limits On Governmental Interference With Religious Organizations, Carl H. Esbeck
Faculty Publications
In this article it will be argued that the establishment clause, properly viewed, functions as a structural provision regimenting the nature and degree of involvement between government and religious associations." The degree of involvement should be a limited one, although it is clear that the interrelationship need not nor cannot be eliminated altogether. Although the degree of desired separation has proven to be a continuing controversy, the goal of separation is not so divisive. The aim of separation of church and government is for each to give the other sufficient breathing space. The ordering principle is reciprocity in which "both …