The System of the Constitution

A constitutional order is a system of systems. It is an aggregate of interacting institutions, which are themselves aggregates of interacting individuals. In The System of the Constitution, Adrian Vermeule analyzes constitutionalism through the lens of systems theory, originally developed in biology, computer science, political science and other disciplines. Systems theory illuminates both the structural constitution and constitutional judging, and reveals that standard views and claims about constitutional theory commit fallacies of aggregation and are thus invalid. By contrast, Vermeule explains and illustrates an approach to constitutionalism that considers the systemic interactions of legal and political institutions and of the individuals who act within them.

Introduction: A System of Systems; 1. Systemic Analysis; 2. The Structural Constitution; 3. Dilemmas of the Invisible Hand; 4. Systemic Feedback Through Selection; 5. Constitutional Judging; Conclusion: Two Degrees of Aggregation

Adrian Vermeule is Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. He is the author of Mechanisms of Democracy (OUP 2007) and Law and the Limits of Reason (OUP 2008), and co-author with Eric Posner of Terror in the Balance (OUP 2006) and The Executive Unbound (OUP 2011).