In his long-awaited work of contemporary constitutional theory, Walter Murphy offers some unexpected twists. The introduction to Constitutional Democracy begins conventionally enough, with a treatment of such key concepts as constitutionalism, democracy, politics, constitutional text, and the inherent tensions among these concepts. The spirit of the book, however, is better captured in the preface, where Murphy explains why this project has been decades in the making. An interest in comparative constitutionalism led to his participation in a series of international conferences in the 1980s. Soon after, the Soviet Union broke up and the Berlin Wall fell. As new nations proliferated and sought to write new constitutions, study of constitutionalism became practical and imminent. That said, the particular circumstances of countries making the commitment to constitutional democracy are too numerous to address in a single treatise. To overcome methodological problems, Murphy resorts to a device seldom encountered in political science—he has constructed a fictionalized country that he has peopled with a cast of vivid characters. This is no gimmick—once the fiction reaches a useful end, he returns to more standard scholarly writing. By taking creative license with the presentation of constitutional concepts, Murphy is able to exhibit as well as explain the core concepts of a constitutional theory that is deeply concerned with sustainable constitutional orders under conditions of contemporary life and politics.

This weighty book is laid out into two main parts, with part 1 addressing the creation of a constitutional democracy and part 2 its maintenance. In part 1, Murphy contrives a fictional nation, Nusquam, that is emerging from seven decades of military rule and has convened a “Caucus for a New Political System” to “propose a new constitutional order” (31). Among the twenty-five caucus members are a Jesuit priest, a Sunni Muslim professor of Islamic studies, a feminist Hispanic graduate student, a Turkish émigré laborer, and a son of a Greek shipping magnate. In their initial meeting, these characters advance stock theories that are clearly distinguishable as natural law, liberal, feminist, utilitarian, and so forth. At this point, the reader might not be charmed by this fictionalization of a constitutional convention, finding perhaps this tactic useful for undergraduate teaching but not for serious academic inquiry. Such readers are advised to be patient. In Murphy's narrative, the initial caricatures develop into characters much more richly drawn as they encounter differences with one another, make unexpected alliances, and confront moments of contradiction and compromise.

Murphy explains that, as author, he lost some control over these characters as they pursued their goals and commitments (327). In conceding the death of the author, he provides critical insight on foundings of constitutions. The constitutional founding receives its share of reverence in the American constitutional tradition. Murphy's work should disabuse readers of ever striving for such a moment again. The Philadelphia convention of 1787 was able to reach agreement because of relative homogeneity and the silencing of claims of injustice. Such conditions would be neither feasible nor desirable today, but sufficiently diverse populations will encounter irreconcilable disagreements on definitions of such concepts as justice and human dignity, as the members of the Nusquam caucus do. Murphy demonstrates, however, that there is no need to long for a replication of the events of 1787, because the very processes of the caucus in Nusquam trigger their own constitutional transformation. By listening to various invited speakers deliver short speeches on constitutional and democratic theory—Murphy makes a cameo appearance as “Retlaw Deukalion”—the fictional caucus members come to view their own theories from new perspectives. They discuss, they reflect, they break for coffee. The caucus goes on to draft a constitutional charter, considering the structure of government, a bill of rights, and special cases. By the time these characters leave the convention, they themselves have transformed from narrowly focused characters to thoughtful, inquiring, and problem-solving citizens. Notably, one of the members finds that his understanding of politics has been altered. He used to see politics as “petty jobbery and gossip” but comes to recognize its relation to morality and is poised to appreciate the role of politics in constitutionalism (143). Ultimately, the significance of a founding lies less in the production of a document than it does in the cultivation of the constitutional thinkers that emerge from the convention.

Part 2 is devoted to constitutional maintenance. The norms of maintenance were already instilled in the founding with the creation of citizens. Murphy lists the basic requirements of constitutional maintenance as: inculcation of “habits of the heart,” availability of competent professionals who are also engaged citizens, accommodation of disagreement, and acceptance of change as ongoing (332–33). Such conditions, in turn, require institutions, but not the political institutions that Murphy has studied in his previous works. Here Murphy deals with those institutions of modern life that are critical to sustaining a modern state—civic education, bureaucracies, and the military. Members of these institutions, who number in the millions, cannot be exempt from partaking in a culture of constitutional democracy. As for constitutional interpretation, Murphy's theory of departmentalism requires citizens and public officials to uphold their responsibility to interpret. He also includes a chapter on dealing with deposed despots, an acknowledgement of the circumstances facing transitional constitutional democracies today.

In the final chapter of the book, the reader might expect the study to come to an end. Murphy surprises his readers in the last paragraph, however, with Yogi Berra's old saw that “it ain't over till it's over” (529). Having demonstrated that it is not the beginning that matters, Murphy indicates that endings—or solutions—do not matter much either. A constitution does not provide solutions; it invites the citizens of a constitutional order to exercise practical wisdom in the framework laid out in the constitution. It would seem madness (or, perhaps, maddening) to suggest that topics were left out of a book that exceeds 500 pages. Nevertheless, there are notable absences. Separation of powers controversies receive little attention here, even though it is growing evident that civic education is needed for vigorous operation of the institutional checks of political institutions. Murphy has not exhausted the list of institutions that are involved in constitutional maintenance; the family could be included, as could corporations. His fictional trope may have overcome deep differences too easily. Certainly there is more to be done in this area, but that may well be the lesson that Murphy imparts. Like a constitution, Constitutional Democracy broadly assesses political conditions and lays the groundwork for thinking about a constitutional order. It is up to the readers, citizens, to take responsibility for ongoing maintenance, and that's where the real story lies.