These essays are the proceedings of a conference held on December 3– 4, 2010, in Alexandria, Virginia, and each essay benefi ted from the comments of the other participants. Pam Entsminger Ryon helped or ga nize the conference from which the book emerged, and Christopher Gardner and Robert Hopkins provided useful assistance. My own chapters benefi ted greatly from comments by Al Cortese, Richard Epstein, Jacob Goldberg, Hon. Edith Jones, Jon Klick, John Lott, Bill Niskanen, Mark Ramseyer, Peter Rutledge, Hon. John Tyson, Hon. Clifford Taylor, and Mike Trebilcock. I am especially grateful to those who offered advice on cross- country constitutional law: Joe Bast, Jonathan Clark, Jeff rey Jenkins, Tom Lindsay, Harvey Mansfi eld, Pippa Norris, Tom Pangle, Charles Rowley, Jason Sorens, and Gordon Wood. In par tic u lar, Jane Atzenstat, Christopher Moore, and Alastair Sweeny helped me better understand the Anglo- Canadian model of self- government. Had I known more of it earlier I might not have waited so long to appreciate the discrete charm of Canadian constitutional history. I also thank George Mason University School of Law for its support.