Constitutional “Attachment”: Identifying the Content of One’s Commitment
Constitutional “Attachment”: Identifying the Content of One’s Commitment
Chapter 3 considered the merits of loyalty oaths in general. It left unexamined an assumption of the debate about requiring such oaths—that they have some genuine content. This chapter examines that assumption: What exactly is one affirming when pledging loyalty to the Constitution or announcing one’s “constitutional faith”? It is possible that the national covenant is without content, or at least is unspecifiable? The chapter includes an intensive examination of one particular case requiring what might be termed as a “meta-analysis” of the Constitution. The subject matter of the case involves the meaning of the “attachment” to the Constitution required in order to become a naturalized citizen of the United States.
Keywords: constitutional faith, civil religion, U.S. Constitution, loyalty
Princeton Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
