Our Declaration

A close reading of the Declaration of Independence as a still-living argument, taken slowly, word by word, the way a sacred text or a great poem rewards. Allen makes the case that equality and liberty are not opposed but joined, and that the founding document belongs to every reader willing to take it seriously, not only to scholars. The book is democratic theory practiced as an act of shared ownership. It hands the Declaration back to the people it was written for.

The political theorist who reads the Declaration of Independence slowly, word by word, as a still-living argument rather than a museum piece. Our Declaration makes the case that equality and liberty are not opposed but joined, and that the founding text belongs to every reader willing to take it seriously. She writes democratic theory as an act of close reading and shared ownership.