most of the power should be at the state and local level with the people. when we follow this more americans actually get more of what they want and less of what they don't want out of government. this does create some great alliances. when they realize that everybody can get more of the kind of government they want if we just respect the constitution. for reasons i explain in the book we ignore these principles by assuming there's nothing congress can do. that's do. that's wrong and it needs to change. fortunately there is some bipartisan support to start to roll that back. >> it's encouraging to see that across the partisan spectrum and i think that has everything to do with the upside of the internet. i think that young people are not learning about the constitution and young in grade school, high school and school, high school and not even in law school. this is an engaging story that you wrote about why the rules matter. we always talk about the rule of law but i suspect young people don't understand what we talk about when we talk about the constitution. >> ya that's right. i made the comment about definitely not law school somewhat facetiously. law schools do focus on constitutional law. sometimes i think in the law school experience there's not enough focus given to the text itself into the words itself. that's why a wrote this book so you can see when people focus on the words in the constitution and where they came from, how we got those words it comes to life and it becomes relevant. it's not just something that was written by a bunch of long since dead white guys back in the 1700s. it becomes real and tangible and concrete for today. >> let me ask you the obvious question, why did you write this book? what you want to accomplish? >> i want to make the constitution and the stories underlining it come to life for the american people. i want it to become part of our national discourse. we need to reinsert it into our national discourse as it was at the time of the founding and for most of our history. george washington famously said before it had been ratified that the power would always remain in the people to protect the constitution. from time to time they will see that it is being interpreted and implemented not consistent with their liking and when that did happen the people could, and would choose to call on those electives then replace them with someone else. that can't happen effectively and regularly as it needs to unless people understand the document. that won't happen unless they know the stories behind it and that's where this book comes into play. >> you're going back to your experiences as a kid and you want people to go back to the dining room table and sit with neighbors and talk with the rules of the game in the constitution which is the roadmap that makes america the great place. you're putting the burden back on their shoulders just like judd george washington did. >> yes exactly. by the tyranny of expertise has crept into our political culture. we have assumed for too long that the constitution is a court thing. it's a thing for the supreme court or the court system. the supreme court has the beginning and the end of the constitution and they just plunge it through the court and let them figure it out whether or not it's constitutional. that is wrong. went individual senators and congressmen have all taken an oath to protect and uphold this constitution they are required to engage in their own analysis. >> it's interesting you see it as a political football. no one wants to stand up for these principles but isn't it the role of you and i and everyone watching this program to defend these principles and understand what they are and to show up? >> that's right we all have to own it and protect it and defend it. everyone is entitled to their own opinion about it. not everyone will always come to the same conclusion that you will or i might in reading a particular section of the constitution, but they do need to read it. they do need to understand it and understand where it came from. this book is designed to start the discussion and facilitate a discussion about language in the constitution that's been neglected and what it means and why it matters and how we go about restoring it. >> the book was released recently. >> yes it came out april 7 and is available on amazon, barnes & noble, and many other places where books are sold. >> i'm not a lawyer and i should mention that but it is the most readable set of stories about why these old principles apply today. i want to thank you for joining me and i want to thank you for writing this book. >> thank you. >> book tv is on twitter and facebook. tweet festival. coming up next, a panel on world war ii and the holocaust.