ABSTRACT
Many provisions of the Constitution are not self-defining and so have been the objects of judicial interpretation and construction. Every word employed in the Constitution is to be expounded in its plain, obvious, and common sense, unless the context provides some ground to control, qualify, or enlarge it. Constitutionally significant pronouncements have also emanated from the executive branch and from the lower federal and state courts. The American constitutional system rests on a federal arrangement in which power is shared by the national government and the states. In searching for satisfactory answers to these questions, students of the Constitution have proposed several approaches to constitutional interpretation, each of which has its own strengths and weaknesses. Constitutional doctrines are formulas—;;sometimes nothing more than slogans—;;extracted from a combination of the constitutional text and a series of related cases. Originalism as an approach to constitutional interpretation is enjoying a revival.
