Introduction

Abstract The Introduction reveals that all constitutional interpretation rests on unwritten ideas, and that debates about these unwritten ideas are the real source of our disputes about how to faithfully interpret the Constitution. Beginning with the most prominent Supreme Court justices who argue for textualism and originalism, the Introduction makes visible the unwritten ideas that frame their understanding of America’s written Constitution. It also reveals an important split between the political and judicial understanding and practice of interpretation based on the text and original meaning of the Constitution and the scholarly disquisition around originalism and textualism. While scholarly advocates of textualism and originalism recognize the importance of constructing constitutional meaning from sparse text, this move is denied by judges and political defenders of originalism.