Abstract

This article explores the main components of the American constitutional culture that resist the contemporary globalizing trends. It singles out four features of this resistance: the role of the Constitution in shaping the country's identity; the common law tradition and the status of "stare decisis" that attaches to it; the legacy of political constitutionalism that still pervades its understanding of jurisdiction; and the reluctant adhesion to the law of nations more broadly. The article uses these features as proxies to investigate the nature of global constitutionalism.