ABSTRACT
The purpose of the Foreword is to study the Capabilities Approach (CA) as a framework for understanding the foundations of political entitlements and constitutional law, to sketch its history, and to measure against this norm some salient aspects of our tradition of constitutional interpretation, both formerly and in the 2006 Term. This chapter examines the CA as a normative account of political principles. It clarifies the approach by contrasting it with two rival normative approaches, utilitarian welfarism and libertarian minimalism. The chapter turns to a procedural contrast and argues that the approach is committed to a definite mode of reasoning about complicated practical situations, and that it is opposed to lofty formalism. It identifies the CA as one prominent strand in US traditions of constitutional reasoning, focusing on the freedom of religion, equal protection arguments against "separate but equal" facilities, procedural protections for welfare opportunities, and access to education.
