How did Americans come to treat the Constitution as an almost holy document? It might seem a piece of writing hardwired into our national mythos, but the process that turned it into a sacred text is a relatively recent development, Aziz Rana argues in his new book The Constitutional Bind: How Americans Came to Idolize a Document That Fails Them. Offering a sweeping history of constitutional politics from the late 19th century to the present, Rana examines how the “creed” of constitutionalism has not always been invoked to protect American democracy, but used just as much by those who seek to thwart dissenting groups for participating in it. As Jedediah Britton-Purdy notes in his review of the July issue, the Constitution has often—from the late 19th century to today—been invoked to justify the suppression of free speech at home and military adventurism abroad. It has also often gotten in the way of necessary change, teaching Americans “to interpret the country as if we could be only what we have already been”—when, Britton-Purdy argues, “a democratic politics often invites us to do something new.” Read “Will the Constitution Save Us?”