This chapter sketches a typology of approaches to constitutional interpretation or sources of constitutional meaning. Yet it cautions against “the approach hypothesis” (i.e., that all of our beliefs about the Constitution are controlled by some partisan perspective or approach) in light of evidence that interpreters have a pre-approach awareness of the Constitution. It prefigures the ultimate argument of the book, not for one approach over all others but for a fusion of approaches.
Keywords: approach hypothesis, fusion of approaches, pre-approach awareness of the Constitution, sources of constitutional meaning, typology of approaches,