On the Formation of the American Corporate State: The Fuller Supreme Court, 1888-1910

George Skouras

Abstract

This paper deals with the formation and legitimation of the American Corporate State by the Fuller Supreme Court. It argues that the Fuller Court was wrong to use the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment and natural law to support laissez-faire capitalism and the emergent corporate structure at the expense of labor and labor unions. It also argues that the corporatization of America has created a social and cultural environment that places business as the center of the American universe. This has led to a very asymmetrical relationship between corporations and citizens. It further argues that recent revisionist scholarship on the rehabilitation of the Fuller Court, away from the original Progressivism, was too hasty and should be reconsidered.