Representation in Crisis: The Constitution, Interest Groups, and Political Parties (Suny Series in Political Party Development) - Softcover

Ryden, David K.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0791430588 ISBN 13: 9780791430583

Publisher: State University of New York Press, 1996

Synopsis

Confronting a fundamentally important but often neglected reality in American politics, this book shows the powerful influence of the courts in determining the shape and operation of our politics. The author exhaustively details how the Supreme Court has impoverished the constitutional standing of political parties in areas of redistricting, campaign finance, ballot access, patronage, and party primaries, opting instead for superficially appealing notions of group-based representation.

Ryden demonstrates how the Supreme Court, by checking virtually everything undertaken by the more "political" branches, of government, has exerted powerful influence on how the political system operates and how politics plays out at the most practical level. The book details the Court's attraction to group-based approaches to representation currently in vogue and offers persuasive evidence that while well-intended, such approaches only feed the crisis of representation afflicting this country. These approaches, Ryden aruges, compartmentalize and separate out those being represented rather than cultivate a more unified, inclusive, and ultimately healthier scheme of representation. This compelling indictment of the Supreme Court's constitutional theory of representation offers a much-needed prescription for how the Court might better perform its role as ultimate guardian of representative government.

About this title

About the Author

David K. Ryden is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Hope College.

From the Back Cover

Confronting a fundamentally important but often neglected reality in American politics, this book shows the powerful influence of the courts in determining the shape and operation of our politics.

Edition details

• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0791430588
• ISBN 13: 9780791430583
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 326