Episode Details

Inside the debate between James Madison and Thomas Jefferson over the endurance of the U.S. Constitution. Jefferson believed that each generation should rewrite the Constitution, while Madison argued for a Constitution that endures over time to build up necessary reverence and respect. Host Dr. Katie Crawford-Lackey is joined by Skidmore College Political Science Professor Dr. Beau Breslin to discuss the implications if Jefferson's argument had prevailed and what it would mean for political engagement today.

Professor Breslin is the author of A Constitution for the Living: Imagining How Five Generations of Americans Would Rewrite the Nation’s Fundamental Law. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2021.