This text uses original essays, cases, and materials to study the very enterprise by which a constitution is interpreted and a constitutional government created. It explores the American polity as both a constitutional and democratic entity. This volume is organized around a set of basic interrogatives: What is the constitution that is to be interpreted? Who are its authoritative interpreters? How should they go about their interpretive tasks? The new edition has been updated to include important new cases decided through June 2018, including Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission and National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra. To maintain brevity, the authors have removed a number of cases from the casebook and placed them on the accompanying website.