Michael Perry's Integrative Political Vision

Abstract

My purpose in the Essay is to explore the integrative nature of Perry’s writings. Perry’s work highlights and acknowledges the communally informed moral-political judgments that are at stake in Fourteenth Amendment jurisprudence. Perry’s ability to draw on different sources and perspectives allows him to cut across rigid jurisprudential and ideological lines in his approach to constitutional controversies, such as abortion and same-sex marriage. In so doing, he may be able to reach the significant portion of Americans in the political and moral middle who do not line up fully behind either side in the culture wars.