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Federalism: The Founders' Design

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This book is simply awesome. Here, Raoul Berger focuses his in-depth analysis and attention toward the history and the original understanding of Article One-Section Eight of the Constitution--the powers of Congress. His conclusion is an inconvenient truth: most of the federal government under which we live is simply unconstitutional.

Berger first explains the true relationship between the federal government and the states: a dual sovereignty. The kind of powers the states were supposed to have retained for themselves are truly amazing. He explains in great detail the original meaning of the "necessary and proper," "supremacy," and "general welfare" clauses along with the 10th Amendment. The most fascinating part of the book for me was the in-depth analysis of the "commerce" clause. The power of Congress to regulate commercial trade between a state and another state is much more limited than one could expect; certainly far removed from what Congress is allowed to get away with today. Berger goes on to shred apart the majority opinion of Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority (1985) which declared that a local mass transit system within a state can be regulated by the federal government via the interstate "commerce" clause.

This short but information packed read is a classic, and is highly recommended for anyone curious about the true meaning of the Constitution. The insights about the true meaning of the "commerce" clause were my favorite.

~Federalism: The Founders' Design~ by Raoul Berger is an intellectually rigorous and accurate exposition of original intent, the compact nature of the Union, and dual federalism. Raoul Berger, an honest liberal, made the diligent effort to recover original intent, for as John Taylor held, "there are lights toward true construction." Professor Berger is the leading force behind the jurisprudential philosophy known as original intention. Strict constructionist philosophy commands judges to strictly construe the written law. Original intent binds judges to the supreme law, the Constitution. James Madison accurately surmised, "...the legitimate meaning of the Instrument must be derived from the text itself; or if a key is to be sought elsewhere, it must be not in the opinions or intentions of the Body which planned & proposed the Constitution, but in the sense attached to it by the people in their respective State Conventions where it received all the authority which it possesses." In point of emphasis, "all the authority which it possesses."