A Capitalist Joker

Publication Date: January 2010

Publisher: Constitutional Accountability Center

Author(s): David H. Gans; Douglas T. Kendall

Research Area: Law and ethics; Politics

Keywords: Capitalism; constitutional

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

A CAPITALIST JOKER: CORPORATIONS, CORPORATE PERSONHOOOD, AND THE CONSTITUTION is the third in a series of Constitutional Accountability Center reports about the text and history of our Constitution. Every provision of the Constitution has a narrative - a story of its enactment; the men and women who pushed for constitutional change; the events and cases that motivated the provision's framers and ratifi ers; and the debates - both in the courts and political branches - about its meaning. Through this series, CAC will tell the most important and compelling stories in the American canon: our Constitution's text, its creation, and the efforts over the past 220 years to improve the document. These narratives will not only distill the best legal and historical scholarship and bring alive forgotten Americans, they will also help us better understand our Constitution and inform how modern debates about the Constitution should be resolved.