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Originalism As Popular Constitutionalism?: It Depends, Lee J. Strang

Lee J Strang

In this Article, I accomplish two goals: first, I describe the rise of popular constitutionalism as a movement in the legal academy along with its basic tenets; and second, I demonstrate that, given the diversity of originalist scholarship, originalism’s relationship to popular constitutionalism depends on the version of originalism one adopts. In the heart of Originalism as Popular Constitutionalism?, I describe five axes upon which originalism pivots toward or away from popular constitutionalism. My claim is that the nuances of contemporary originalist scholarship—characterized by these five axes—make it impossible to definitively describe the relationship between originalism and popular constitutionalism.