Jack Rakove
William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies, Professor of Political Science and, by courtesy, of Law
Bio
Jack Rakove's principal areas of interest include the origins of the American Revolution and Constitution, the political theories and practices of James Madison; and the role of historical knowledge in constitutional litigation. He is the author of four books, including Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution (1996), which won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1997. In this work, Rakove argues that originalism, the practice of interpreting the Constitution by a fixed set of the original framers’ intentions, should not be the only approach to settling today's judicial questions.
He joined the Stanford faculty in 1980. After earning his Ph.D. in 1975 from Harvard University, he taught at Colgate University from 1975 to 1980, and has also been a visiting professor at the NYU School of Law. He is also the author of The Beginnings of National Politics: An Interpretive History of the Continental Congress (1979), James Madison and the Creation of the American Republic (2001), and Declaring Rights: A Brief History with Documents (1997).
Key works
- New York Times Letter to the Editor, March 16, 2006
- Salon.com article, June 9, 2005
- New York Times article, May 12, 2002
The Unfinished Election of 2000. Ed. Jack Rakove. New York: Basic Books, 2001
Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996
Interpreting the Constitution: The Debate over Original Intent. Ed. Jack Rakove. Northeastern University Press, 1990
Prof. Rakove in the News
Expertise
- American Politics
- American Republic
- Colonial and Revolutionary America
- Constitutional Ammendments
- Gun Control
- James Madison
- Originalism
- Political Theory
- Second Amendment
- The Declaration of Independence
- The U.S. Constitution
- Thomas Jefferson
Contact information
Bldg 200, Rm 117
650.723.4514
