American Constitutionalism Volume I Structures of Government: 1 - Softcover

Gillman, Howard; Graber, Mark; Whittington, Keith

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0190299479 ISBN 13: 9780190299477

Publisher: OUP USA, 2017

Synopsis

The key points are the authors (editing and headnotes), broader readings (for political and historical context), historical sequence (with flexibility to suit both new and traditional courses), and pedagogy to encourage learning and critical thinking.

Political science majors and future practicing lawyers alike will appreciate this "historical institutional " context, seeing the law as a vital part of the political process. They will see how the Constitution and the courts are influenced by politics, how other factors and players shape the law beyond the Supreme Court, and how history is in turn a struggle for constitutional authority. And they are reinforced and challenged at every step by bulleted summaries, questions, and other pedagogy not found in any other text.

· Each volume proceeds chronologically, with extensive historical background and with consistent topical structure from chapter to chapter, to stress how the law has developed over time, within the politics and culture of its age. Each volume thus ends with current controversies.
· Additional documents beyond Supreme Court cases make the book more comprehensive, historical, and vivid - from great speeches (by Daniel Webster, Abraham Lincoln, and others) and presidential vetoes to issues and controversies today.
· Extensive historical introductions precede each chapter's cases.
· Many examples make the struggle for constitutional authority vivid, from Marbury v. Madison to the New Deal and today.
· Chapter 1 introduces critical questions right away: What is the Constitution, who interprets it, and how does it change?
· Chapter 1 also introduces comparative governments early.
· Many more readings are available in the package online.
· Of course, three stellar scholars are our authors, and their excerpting and editing of readings is a itself a major feature.
· Yet additional readings, as well as full cases, are on the companion Web site.

There is, quite simply, more pedagogy and art than in other books:

· Main sections open with bulleted Major Developments.
· Questions at end of each headnote encourage critical thinking.
· Notes explicate court decisions. Chapters end with further readings.
· Historical images and maps add unique interest.
· A case study in the introductory chapter integrates constitutional issues into history, (tentatively "The Negro Seamen's Act ").
· An appendix on doing legal research and reading court cases helps students with the methodology of political science.
· Again, an alternate table of contents adds flexibility, as a correlation guide.

About this title

Review

The historical approach of American Constitutionalism is excellent. It has encouraged me to completely rethink my course with attention to changes in our regime over time. Equally excellent is the inclusion of influential constitutional statements from congressional floor debates and presidential addresses, etc. -Stewart Gardener, Boise State University

American Constitutionalism is easily the best undergraduate constitutional law text on the market. It goes beyond other texts by including not only important Supreme Court cases, but also materials illustrating that constitutional development is the product of interactions between many individuals and institutions. -Paul Nolette, Marquette University

About the Author

Howard Gillman is the past dean of the University of Southern California College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and professor of political science, history and law at USC. He is the author of the award-winning The Constitution Besieged and The Votes that Counted, as well as co-editor of Supreme Court Decision-Making and The Supreme Court in American Politics and author of numerous works on judicial politics and constitutional law. He has served as the chair of the Law and Courts section of the American Political Science Association. Mark A. Graber is professor of law at the University of Maryland. He is the author of Transforming Free Speech; Rethinking Abortion; and Dred Scott and the Problem of Constitutional Evil, as well as co-editor of Marbury v. Madison and author of numerous works on American constitutional development, including several award-winning papers and articles on the history of the Supreme Court and American party politics. He has served as the chair of the Law and Courts section of the American Political Science Association. Keith E. Whittington is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics at Princeton University. He is the author of Constitutional Interpretation; Constitutional Construction; and the award-winning Political Foundations of Judicial Supremacy, as well as co-editor of Congress and the Constitution and the Oxford Handbook of Law and Politics, and author of numerous works on constitutional theory and American constitutional development.

Edition details

• Publisher: OUP USA
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0190299479
• ISBN 13: 9780190299477
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 784