This interdisciplinary volume focuses on constitutional democracy, with special reference to the United States. The editors and contributors conceive of a constitutionalism as an ongoing process in which most members of a given community rely on certain cultural norms and practices to identify and interpret constitutional rules (written or unwritten as the case may be) that limit government power, and divide it among competing groups of leaders such that no single group has unchecked authority to pass statutes or to interpret the constitution when disputes arise.

How do we place a value on a painting, or a piece of music, or a traditional ritual? The market can determine a price in monetary terms for a variety of cultural phenomena, but how much does that tell us about the real value of these things? This book explores the tensions between economic and cultural value from a range of disciplinary viewpoints and provides many new insights into how value is constructed in contemporary society.