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摘要
This Article is the first interdisciplinary work exploring architectural and constitutional theories of interpretation. This "conarchitectual" perspective is used to explore the concepts of form and function in both disciplines to better understand the meaning of structure. While form and function are often referenced in legal analysis, there is little work on the inherent meaning of structure. Constitutional structure is often treated as an instrumental rather than a normative element in modern conflicts. This Article challenges that view and suggests that the Madisonian system is a case of "form following function" in core elements like the separation of powers and federalism. This Article explores the influence of scientific and philosophical theories on the structure of government for Madison. These "Madisonian tectonics" give constitutional structure a normative or deontological value that should frame interpretive analysis. Indeed, the Article explores the role of constitutional structure as a type of "choice architecture" in shaping choices and directing actions within the system. In a conarchitectural approach, an understanding of form and function can lead to a fading of those distinctions-as it did for modernist architect Mies van der Rohe. What emerges is a more consistent and coherent approach to constitutional interpretation that is based on structuring truth behind a design. This Article traces the influences of structure from Madison to Mies to better understand the truth in the meaning of architectural and constitutional structure.
- 出版日期2015-2
