Evan Oxman
Graduate Student
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E-mail: eoxman@princeton.edu
Specialization: Political theory; history of political thought; democratic theory; American political thought; American politics; public law
B.A., Duke University M.A., Princeton University
Thesis Title: The Constitution of the People
Committee: Stephen Macedo, Alan Patten, Philip Pettit
Abstract: Instead of conceiving of "the people" as a source of constituent power that is thought to logically and/or temporally precede a given constitutional order, I argue that "the people" is better understood as coming into existence only after the inauguration of a constitution. From the perspective I am offering, the legitimacy of a constitution does not derive from an act of authorization that occurred at a single historical moment, but rather from its continuous ability to bind individuals together as a single collectivity through a shared political grammar. This analysis allows me to formulate a distinct account of the relationship between constitutionalism and popular sovereignty that draws upon an unlikely source for its inspiration: Thomas Hobbes. By situating this account within current debates about representation and constitutional interpretation (specifically the American case), I provide both theoretical and practical guidance as to how we should best conceptualize the sovereign people in a constitutional democracy. In doing so, I engage a variety of canonical authors in the history of political thought (including Locke, Rousseau, and Schmitt), along with more contemporary work in legal and democratic theory.
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