[PDF] The Supreme Court And The Idea Of Constitutionalism eBook

Author : Steven Kautz
Publisher : University of Pennsylvania Press
Page : 327 pages
File Size : 44,64 MB
Release : 2011-11-29
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 081220607X

GET BOOK

From Brown v. Board of Education to Roe v. Wade to Bush v. Gore, the Supreme Court has, over the past fifty years, assumed an increasingly controversial place in American national political life. As the recurring struggles over nominations to the Court illustrate, few questions today divide our political community more profoundly than those concerning the Court's proper role as protector of liberties and guardian of the Constitution. If the nation is today in the midst of a "culture war," the contest over the Supreme Court is certainly one of its principal battlefields. In this volume, distinguished constitutional scholars aim to move debate beyond the sound bites that divide the opposing parties to more fundamental discussions about the nature of constitutionalism. Toward this end, the volume includes chapters on the philosophical and historical origins of the idea of constitutionalism; on theories of constitutionalism in American history in particular; on the practices of constitutionalism around the globe; and on the parallel emergence of—and the persistent tensions between—constitutionalism and democracy throughout the modern world. In democracies, the primary point of having a constitution is to place some matters beyond politics and partisan contest. And yet it seems equally clear that constitutionalism of this kind results in a struggle over the meaning or proper interpretation of the constitution, a struggle that is itself deeply political. Although the volume represents a variety of viewpoints and approaches, this struggle, which is the central paradox of constitutionalism, is the ultimate theme of all the essays.

Author : Steven J. Kautz
Publisher : University of Pennsylvania Press
Page : 328 pages
File Size : 25,3 MB
Release : 2011-10-03
Category : Law
ISBN : 0812221907

GET BOOK

In this volume distinguished constitutional scholars aim to move debate over the Supreme Court beyond the soundbites that divide us to fundamental questions about the nature of constitutionalism.

Author : John Agresto
Publisher : Cornell University Press
Page : 188 pages
File Size : 35,94 MB
Release : 1984
Category : Law
ISBN : 9780801492778

GET BOOK

Discusses the growth of the power of the Supreme Court and analyzes the separation of judicial and congressional functions.

Author : Larry Kramer
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 380 pages
File Size : 37,93 MB
Release : 2004
Category : History
ISBN : 9780195306453

GET BOOK

This book makes the radical claim that rather than interpreting the Constitution from on high, the Court should be reflecting popular will--or the wishes of the people themselves.

Author : John Agresto
Publisher : Cornell University Press
Page : 184 pages
File Size : 45,72 MB
Release : 2016-10-15
Category : Law
ISBN : 1501712918

GET BOOK

In The Supreme Court and Constitutional Democracy John Agresto traces the development of American judicial power, paying close attention to what he views as the very real threat of judicial supremacy. Agresto examines the role of the judiciary in a democratic society and discusses the proper place of congressional power in constitutional issues. Agresto argues that while the separation of congressional and judicial functions is a fundamental tenet of American government, the present system is not effective in maintaining an appropriate balance of power. He shows that continued judicial expansion, especially into the realm of public policy, might have severe consequences for America's national life and direction, and offers practical recommendations for safeguarding against an increasingly powerful Supreme Court. John Agresto's controversial argument, set in the context of a historical and theoretical inquiry, will be of great interest to scholars and students in political science and law, especially American constitutional law and political theory.

Author : Bradford P. Wilson
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 328 pages
File Size : 39,63 MB
Release : 1998
Category : Law
ISBN : 9780847686599

GET BOOK

In this important book, fourteen of America's leading constitutional scholars assess the Supreme Court's performance expounding the animating principles of American constitutionalism. Essays devoted to fresh examination of the Supreme Court's jurisprudence with respect to the Necessary and Proper Clause, the Commerce Clause, federalism, the common law, international law and national sovereignty, separation of powers, fundamental rights, term limits, and constitutional criminal procedure. Other essays evaluate the work of the Court as 'republican school master, ' analyzing how the Court has articulated and affected the American people's capacity for self-government, the principle of the rule of law, the historic burden of racial injustice, respect for limited constitutional government, and the civilizational distinction between liberty and license. The Supreme Court and American Constitutionalism will be of great value to students and scholars of American constitutional studies, constitutional law, and American government

Author : Barry Friedman
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Page : 623 pages
File Size : 47,71 MB
Release : 2009-09-29
Category : Law
ISBN : 1429989955

GET BOOK

In recent years, the justices of the Supreme Court have ruled definitively on such issues as abortion, school prayer, and military tribunals in the war on terror. They decided one of American history's most contested presidential elections. Yet for all their power, the justices never face election and hold their offices for life. This combination of influence and apparent unaccountability has led many to complain that there is something illegitimate—even undemocratic—about judicial authority. In The Will of the People, Barry Friedman challenges that claim by showing that the Court has always been subject to a higher power: the American public. Judicial positions have been abolished, the justices' jurisdiction has been stripped, the Court has been packed, and unpopular decisions have been defied. For at least the past sixty years, the justices have made sure that their decisions do not stray too far from public opinion. Friedman's pathbreaking account of the relationship between popular opinion and the Supreme Court—from the Declaration of Independence to the end of the Rehnquist court in 2005—details how the American people came to accept their most controversial institution and shaped the meaning of the Constitution.

Author : Edward A. Purcell, Jr.
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 329 pages
File Size : 43,58 MB
Release : 2020
Category : Constitutional law
ISBN : 0197508766

GET BOOK

"Antonin Scalia and American Constitutionalism is a critical study of Justice Antonin Scalia's jurisprudence, his work on the U.S. Supreme Court, and his significance for an understanding of American constitutionalism. After tracing Scalia's emergence as a hero of the political right and his opposition to many of the decisions of the Warren Court, this book examines his general jurisprudential theory of originalism and textualism, arguing that he failed to produce either the objective method he claimed or the "correct" constitutional results he promised. Focusing on his judicial performance over his thirty years on the Court, the book examines his opinions on virtually all of the constitutional issues he addressed, from fundamentals of structure to most major constitutional provisions. The book argues that Scalia applied his jurisprudential theories in inconsistent ways and often ignored, twisted, or abandoned the interpretive methods he proclaimed, in most cases reaching results that were consistent with "conservative" politics and the ideology of the post-Reagan Republican Party. Most broadly, it argues that Scalia's jurisprudence and career are particularly significant because they exemplify-contrary to his own persistent claims-three paramount characteristics of American constitutionalism: the inherent inadequacy of "originalism" and other formal interpretive methodologies to produce "correct" answers to controverted constitutional questions; the relationship-particularly close in Scalia's case-between constitutional interpretations on one hand and substantive personal and political goals on the other; and the truly and unavoidably "living" nature of American constitutionalism itself. As a historical matter, the book concludes, Scalia stands as a towering figure of irony because his judicial career disproved the central claims of his own jurisprudence"--