{"id":17090,"date":"2024-01-20T14:23:52","date_gmt":"2024-01-20T19:23:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/georgetown-law-journal\/?page_id=17090"},"modified":"2026-07-02T13:51:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T17:51:10","slug":"community-society-and-individualism-in-constitutional-law","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/georgetown-law-journal\/in-print\/volume-111\/volume-111-issue-4-april-2023\/community-society-and-individualism-in-constitutional-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Community, Society, and Individualism in Constitutional Law"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alongside the familiar ideological splits in constitutional law lies <\/span>another division older and more fundamental. Since the Federalists<\/span><\/span> bat<\/span>tled<\/span><\/span> the Anti-Federalists, our allegiances have been divided between two <\/span>vastly different forms of social organization. Community is built around <\/span>the close, complex relationships among small groups of people, such as <\/span>the members of a family, the residents of a small town, or the<\/span><\/span> congre<\/span>gants<\/span><\/span> of a church. On the other hand, Society organizes limited<\/span><\/span> interac<\/span>tions<\/span><\/span> among relative strangers, pursuing efficiency or ideological ends. <\/span>Industrialization and urbanization ensured Society\u2019s dominance in<\/span><\/span> eco<\/span>nomic<\/span><\/span> life, politics, and law. Yet continued reverence for Community <\/span>ideals of connection and belonging keeps it a powerful force. <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Society\u2019s<\/span> neglect<\/span> of<\/span> Community<\/span> is<\/span> deeply<\/span> destabilizing.<\/span> President <\/span>Trump\u2019s ability to speak to many voters\u2019 fear of Society obliterating <\/span>Community helped him triumph over establishment Republicans and <\/span>Democrats speaking the language of Society.<\/span><\/span>
<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

This affinity for Community has shaped numerous constitutional<\/span><\/span> doc<\/span>trines.<\/span><\/span> Ideologically disparate Justices have united to protect key<\/span><\/span> mani<\/span>festations<\/span><\/span> of Community such as small towns, schools, local police, and <\/span>juries. <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Ignoring Community has undermined constitutional litigation. It has <\/span>also led to the acceptance of dubious and inconsistent analogies between <\/span>different phenomena in Community and Society. This has warped<\/span><\/span> doc<\/span>trines<\/span><\/span> from campaign finance to affirmative action. <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Community\u2019s champions must decide whether to continue to regard <\/span>the federal government as the paramount threat to be cabined whenever <\/span>possible, or to see it as Community\u2019s only hope for protection against <\/span>multinational corporations, Big Data, and other private sector threats. <\/span>This strategic choice will shape numerous areas of constitutional law.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Continue Reading Community, Society, and Individualism in Constitutional Law<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

GT-GGLJ230014<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alongside the familiar ideological splits in constitutional law lies another division older and more fundamental. Since the Federalists battled the Anti-Federalists, our allegiances have been divided between two vastly different forms of social organization. Community is built around the close, complex relationships among small groups of people, such as the members of a family, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10024,"featured_media":0,"parent":17071,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"abstract.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-17090","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/georgetown-law-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/georgetown-law-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/georgetown-law-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/georgetown-law-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10024"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/georgetown-law-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17090"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/georgetown-law-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17090\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24670,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/georgetown-law-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17090\/revisions\/24670"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/georgetown-law-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/georgetown-law-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}