Constitutional Law for a Changing America: Institutional Powers and Constraints, 6th Edition - Softcover

Lee Epstein; Thomas G. Walker

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1933116811 ISBN 13: 9781933116815

Publisher: CQ Press, 2007

Synopsis

Can your students get a good understanding of constitutional law if you leave out the politics? Epstein and Walker would say no and believe that any study of constitutional law is richer and more rewarding when its political context is emphasized. Simply put, political factors influence judicial decisions. Arguments and input from lawyers and interest groups, the positions of elected officials, the ebb and flow of public opinion, and especially the ideological and behavioral inclinations of the justices all combine to influence the development of constitutional doctrine. Drawing on political science as much as from legal studies, Constitutional Law for a Changing America helps students realize quite powerfully that Supreme Court cases are more than just legal names and citations. The landmark cases analyzed and excerpted in this exceptional two-volume set involve real people embroiled in real disputes whose cases have real political consequences. The authors have carefully created structure and features in each chapter that enhance learning. Not only do they provide substantive commentary around cases, helping students to see a case within the larger picture of an evolving and dynamic body of law, they encourage students to see alternative points of view by including excerpts of important concurring and dissenting opinions for virtually all cases in the book. The popular Aftermath and Global Perspective boxes answer students lingering questions about what happened to litigants after a ruling or how U.S. case law compares to the law in other nations.. Epstein and Walker also include profiles of influential groups and justices, photographs of litigants, exhibits from cases, and lively descriptions of the events that led to the suits. Web addresses are included throughout, giving students easy access to the full text of opinions as well as to audio recordings of oral arguments when available. In a thorough exploration of the Supreme Court s interpretation of the political power distributed by the Constitution, Epstein and Walker examine such essential concepts as separation of powers and federalism, as well as the government s authority to conduct war, regulate commerce, tax, spend, and limit rights to property and contracts. This revised volume includes both recent and important rulings on limits to federal power, and thoughtfully examines the impact of national emergencies, terrorism, and the war in Iraq on the government s capacity to act in the interests of national security.

About this title

About the Author:

Lee Epstein is the Beatrice Kuhn Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University. She is also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Academy of Political and Social Science. She received her Ph.D. from Emory University. She is coauthor of The Supreme Court and Legal Change: Abortion and the Death Penalty (1992) with Joseph Kobylka; Advice and Consent: The Politics of Judicial Appointments (2005) with Jeffrey A. Segal; The Supreme Court Compendium: Data, Decisions, and Developments, 4th ed. (2007) with Segal, Harold J. Spaeth, and Thomas G. Walker; and The Choices Justices Make (1998) with Jack Knight, which won the C. Herman Pritchett Award for the best book on law and courts. In addition, she is coauthor, with Walter F. Murphy and C. Herman Pritchett of Courts, Judges and Politics, 6th ed. (2006). Thomas G. Walker is Goodrich C. White Professor of Political Science at Emory University where he has won several teaching awards for his courses on constitutional law and the judicial process. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky. His book, A Court Divided, written with Deborah J. Barrow, won the prestigious V.O. Key Award for the best book on southern politics. He is the coauthor of The Supreme Court Compendium: Data, Decisions, and Developments, 4th ed. (2007) with Lee Epstein, Jeffrey A. Segal, and Harold J. Spaeth.

About this edition

• Publisher: CQ Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1933116811
• ISBN 13: 9781933116815
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 6
• Number of pages: 684