Scholars mostly of politics explore ideas espoused by conservative thinker Carey in terms of the foundations of political order, origins and intent of the American republic, and the derailment and crisis of the republic. The topics include Locke, our great founders, and American political life; federalists, anti-federalists, and the Philadelphia constitution; rights in a federalist system; the horizontal and vertical consolidation of the US into an administrative state; how caring too much about important things is destroying constitutional law; and neo-Jacobin nationalism or responsible nationhood. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)