Subjects:  1. Civil rights    2. Constitutional    3. General    4. Political And Civil Rights    5. Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights    6. Political Science    7. Politics - Current Events    8. Politics / Current Events    9. Politics/International Relations    10. Popular works    11. United States    12. Human rights    13. Political Science / General   

Editorial Review

In the second volume of a projected trilogy that seeks to provide the history of constitutional law in the U.S., Yale law professor Bruce Ackerman turns his attention to two periods: the post-Civil War era and the New Deal. Ackerman's historical research is prodigious, and Read more

Reviews (3)

Strong historical support for Foundations.
In his second volume, Ackerman presents his historical evidence defending the concept of a dualist Constitution. In brief, the theory of dualism holds that we have a two-track law-making system: while victors of normal elections are given normal political power, the authority to effect fundamental constitutional change requires a sustained, massive degree of popular support. These periods of fundamental change are brought about through unconventional ratification outside of the accept means of constitutional revision, i.e. Article V. This process is complicated and he identifies five different steps: signaling, proposal, triggering, ratifying, and consolidation.
Attractive, appealing, well researched theories.
Bruce Ackerman eloquently uses the "higher lawmaking" theory just as Adam Smith used his invisible hand. Instead of guiding the American economic system and gross national product, Ackerman's higher lawmaking theory provides that the American ratification of the Constitution of the United States is led by things other than the system of ratification provided for us in Article V of the Constitution. Dry, engrossing Constitutionality
Continuing from Foundations, Ackerman has proven deep ties to traditional majoritarianism.However, I find his spin fascinating, albeit not the juiciest read I've come across recently.His take on our democratichistory is refreshing, and I recommend it to those who crave exposure tonew vantage points of American tradition. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Constitutional    2. Constitutions    3. Government - U.S. Government    4. History    5. History: American    6. Politics / Current Events    7. United States - General    8. American history    9. Constitution: government & the state    10. Constitutional & administrative law    11. History / United States / General    12. USA   

Subjects:  1. General    2. National security    3. Nationalism    4. Philosophy    5. Political Freedom & Security - Law Enforcement    6. Political Freedom & Security - Terrorism    7. Political Ideologies - Nationalism    8. Political Science    9. Politics / Current Events    10. Politics/International Relations    11. Terrorism    12. Human rights    13. Philosophy / General    14. Political science & theory    15. Terrorism, freedom fighters, armed struggle    16. Violence in society   

Reviews (6)

carefully and closely reasoned investigation
Not light reading or a polemic, but rather a carefully and closely reasoned investigation of how one comes to decisions about matters involving the taking of life, with particular emphasis on doing so under the US Constitution not advised
I was actually looking forward to reading this book.I came with an open mind and yet the poor writing and lack of credible arguments astounded me.How is this author a scholar and still able to write weakly biased material that is published by a major house?
False Rationalizations
Dworkin claims that accepting abortion and euthanasia is to somehowembrace the sanctity of all human life.What tripe.Whatever one thinksof these controversial issues, both involve killing as a means to problemsolving.That hardly embraces life's sanctity unless language has lost allmeaning. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Abortion    2. Euthanasia    3. General    4. Human rights    5. Law and legislation    6. Philosophy    7. Sociology    8. United States    9. Ethical issues & debates    10. Law / Constitutional   

Subjects:  1. Civil Procedure    2. Constitutional    3. Constitutional history    4. General    5. History    6. History: World    7. Legal History    8. Legal Reference / Law Profession    9. Sources    10. United States    11. United States - General    12. Constitution: government & the state    13. Constitutional & administrative law    14. USA   

Reviews (9)

Reframing a volatile issue
Racism has been an impediment in living up to our ideals as a democracy. It will continue to be a sensitive and volatile issue here in America unless we make an effort to eliminate it. The authors have done a formidable job in reframing the problem in a way to help us trancend it, come together and work toward a solution to what W.E.B. DuBois called the problem of the 20th century. It's a difficult book but well worth the effort!

You are kidding me?
I know that professors from Harvard and UT are smart, but do they really feel the need to express this in their writing?The entire first chapter of this book is nothing but fluff, using nearly incomprehensible $5 words.The authors do not get their point across in a clear and concise manner and the rest of the book suffers because of this.Do not buy this book.

Timely and bold
A bold call for bringing people together and transforming society. If you are class conscious and anti-racist read this book, it will be worth the challenge. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Coalition (Social sciences)    2. Discrimination & Racism    3. Minorities    4. Minority Studies - Race Relations    5. Political Process - General    6. Political activity    7. Political aspects    8. Political participation    9. Race relations    10. Social Science    11. Sociology    12. Sociology - Social Theory    13. United States    14. 21st century    15. Constitutional & administrative law    16. Political Science / Civil Rights    17. Political science & theory    18. Political structure & processes    19. Racism & racial discrimination    20. USA   

Subjects:  1. Cases    2. Civil Rights    3. Constitutional    4. Law    5. Legal Reference / Law Profession    6. State action (Civil rights)    7. United States   

Subjects:  1. Comparative    2. Constitutional    3. Courts - General    4. International    5. Interpretation and construction    6. Judges    7. Judicial process    8. Law    9. Legal Reference / Law Profession    10. Political Ideologies - Democracy    11. Courts & procedure    12. Jurisprudence & General Issues    13. Law / Constitutional    14. Political Philosophy    15. Political Science and International Relations   

Editorial Review

Despite Americans' constitutional right to a free press, certain governmentinformation--particularly that concerning military affairs--has been placed beyond therealm of public access. A U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1971, however (brought aboutwhen the Nixon administration sued the the Read more

Reviews (4)

Fantastic
Fanatastic, detailed and scholarly account of the Pentagon papers case from a truly gifted legal academic

What About the Ellsberg-Russo Trial?
What's the author's problem?Alxheimer's or "selective memory?"He fails to mention the "joint trial of Dan Ellsberg AND Tony Russo" -- and Russo went to jail for civil resistance over thePentagon Papers! -- and the author fails to mention the participation ofrenowned international law scholar Richard Falk.Surely with all the booksFalk has in his home library here in Princeton, he must have purchased thisone.Where's his response?Or would he rather forget his participation inthis world-history-changing event?Further, there's nothing that wouldgive a readers even a clue that the leak of the Pentagon Papers begat thedownfall of Richard Nixon -- not just Watergate!Shame on you, Rudenstine!

What Rudenstine left out
Rudenstine, a lawyer leaves out any consideration of international law. For example, he fails to even mention Professor Richard Falk of Princeton University who edited three thick volumes on international law and the VietNam War. Falk is the lawyer who is the leading authority on the PentagonPapers. Rudenstine also gives short shrift to the trial that was the mainreason for Nixon's fall (much moreso than the Watergate burglary): theEllsberg- Russo Pentagon Papers Trial which came about as a result of mycivil disobedience (refusing to testify before the Pentagon Papers grandjury and thus going to jail) in the summer of 1971. As a result of theseomissions Rudenstine's book is seriously flawed. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Criminal Law - General    2. Law    3. Legal History    4. Legal Reference / Law Profession    5. Legal System    6. Military - Vietnam War    7. American history: postwar, from c 1945 -    8. Central government    9. Constitutional & administrative law    10. Freedom of information & freedom of speech    11. Law / General    12. USA   

Reviews (1)

A Great Tome, But Not the Place to Start
George is an adroit, articulate, and erudite author, and this book is a well-crafted and intelligently-designed defense of modern natural law theory. Yet, these features still require the reader to be already familiar with ethics, meta-ethics, metaphysics, and natural law. This book is for graduate students and advanced undergraduates; it's not directed toward a general readership. For a simpler, more straight-forward account cf, Finnis, "Natural Law and Natural Rights," (OUP, 1982).Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business/Economics    3. Constitutional    4. Development - Economic Development    5. History & Theory - General    6. Law    7. Legal Reference / Law Profession    8. Natural Law    9. Constitutional & administrative law    10. Ethics & moral philosophy    11. Foundations of law    12. Law / Constitutional    13. Law | Jurisprudence and Legal Philosophy    14. Social & political philosophy    15. Theology   

Reviews (11)

An accessible, left-leaning overview of first-amendment law
A very familiar, weak joke among my friends is to preface even the most self-apparent advice with the phrase "I am not a lawyer."For example, "I'm not a lawyer, but I'd advise against punching your neighbor in the face.""I'm not a lawyer, but I'd recommend renting The Incredibles instead of Friday the 13th Part 27."
Another necessary free speech book
There is little to add to the other reviews.Lewis writes well, on a important enough subject.He idealizes the court's creation of, and support for, free speech doctrine.The importance of the Sullivan case is the crux of the book.Justic Goldberg summed up the result: "A public official from recovering damages for a defamatory falsehood relating to his official conduct unless he proves that the statement was made with 'actual malice'--that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not."It was, according to Lewis, a victory for free speech and important component in the development of free speech doctrine.
Why press freedom matters...
A readable account of the libel case that dramatically defined and expanded the scope of press freedom.It's difficult to remember that it was only in the 1960's that these ideas were settled by the Supreme Court.Lewis backgrounds the history of press freedom, or rather government attempts to bridle it by various sedition acts that seemed to appear each generation [Ashcroft's current attempts to inhibit 1st Amendment rights is only the latest in a long series] The last chapters of the book cover libel cases through 1991 when the book went to press.The short section on the Pentagon Papers case is particularly timely.Read more

Subjects:  1. Constitutional    2. Freedom of the press    3. General    4. History: American    5. Libel and slander    6. Politics / Current Events    7. Press law    8. Sullivan, L. B    9. United States    10. Law / Constitutional    11. Modern fiction    12. Trials, litigation, etc    13. USA   

Reviews (10)

Should Judicial Review by Limited?
This is a very fine work of scholarship.The research is staggering in its comprehensiveness, and it is a definite contribution to the literature on the federal courts at a time when there is much attention being devoted to judicial power.The basic thesis of the book is that throughout American constitutional history, what the author terms "popular constitutionalism" has played a "pivotal role" in interpreting the Constitution. The author believes that "judicial supremacy" has caused a disfunction in the political system and needs to be offset by more attention to the expressions of popular direction in making interpretations. In order to argue his thesis, the author has produced a very valuable history of judicial review.
Simultaneously Over and Under Inclusive
After finishing Kramer's book, one doesn't know quite what to make of it.After all, as history, the book is about one hundred pages too long and studded with irrelevant normative snipes.But as a prescriptive policy argument, the book is needlessly morassed in early history and rests its points on a case that was never built.
This book has very troubling implications
Kramer seems to think that we have strayed from the path of letting the People decide constitutional issues. There are significant reasons why Madison and others thought that would be a problem. Freedom of speech, for example, is something that the majority of voters or their representatives in congress would do away with in an instant if it weren't for the Supreme Court. Freedom of speech is fine until some group like the communists or the nazi party tries to exercise it, then legislators try to make laws saying they can't. In our constitution it is imperative to have a less political branch deciding these issues. Yes, the Supremes make unpopular decisions sometimes, but that is their job. Allowing the boneheads in congress to decide important constitutional issues would be folly. They would play to the lowest common denominator and have us giving away our rights in the name of God or security or morality. The Constitution has a way for the people to check the Supreme Court. We can impeach them or amend the constitution. Kramer's book looks back on the golden age in 1800 when we voted out a political party because of the unconstitutional laws they passed. Does he deny the havoc some poorly thought out laws could wreak in 21st century America? We don't have time to allow people to take away American's rights with the idea we might get them back in the next election. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Constituent power    2. Constitutional    3. General    4. Government - Judicial Branch    5. History    6. History: World    7. Judicial review    8. Legal Reference / Law Profession    9. People (Constitutional law)    10. Political Ideologies - Democracy    11. United States    12. Constitution: government & the state    13. Constitutional & administrative law    14. Law / Constitutional    15. Law | Constitutional Law    16. USA   

Subjects:  1. Civil rights    2. Ethics & Moral Philosophy    3. Ethics (Specific Aspects)    4. Human rights    5. Philosophy    6. Political    7. Political And Civil Rights    8. Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights    9. Political Freedom & Security - Human Rights    10. Political Science    11. Politics/International Relations    12. International human rights law    13. Social & political philosophy   

Subjects:  1. Constitutional    2. Constitutional law    3. General    4. Government - Judicial Branch    5. Law and ethics    6. Legal Reference / Law Profession    7. Political Science    8. Politics/International Relations    9. Privacy, Right of    10. United States    11. Law / General    12. Private, property, family law    13. USA   

Reviews (17)

Real History
Mike Davis' Victorian Holocausts was to me a real eye opener. This in spite of the fact that I have read about the history of British India, one of the areas treated in the book. It is really an indictment of the way history is presented by mainstream historians and an indictment of journalists, who perpetuate the myth of the beneficial effects of British domination in various parts of the world. Just recently, Niall Ferguson, the noted British historian was quoted as saying that on the whole, British rule has been good for the countries affected. It is probably fair to say that Davis' book makes it clear that any beneficial effects of British rule, in India for example, were accidental. The book is admirably written and researched. It is especially noteworthy that there is no exaggerated language used, such as in more well-known holocaust literature, in describing the horrendous occurences in the various parts of what we now know as the third world. Finally, throughout my reading of the book, I could not help recall the fact that Queen Victoria, the icon of beneficial, benign British rule was presiding over much of these horrific happenings. This book has been long overdue. I highly recommend this book to all who are interested in "real history" rather than national mythologies.

The Supposed Political Economy of Famine
Davis has created a book of monumental proportions, but in doing so he has put too much into the mix and tried to leaven it toone thing -- economic imperialism causes famine.
One of the Best Texts in Recent Memory
Though I agree with other reviewers that Davis is at his best when discussing India, the sections on Brazil, China, and numerous other places (to which he pays insufficient attention, truly) are generally informative. Perhaps it's fair to say that he establishes his argument on the basis of the British genocides in India, and then produces schematic outlines of varying depths for the imperial genocides in China, Brazil, Egypt, the Sudan, Ethiopia, the Philippines, and so on. That slight flaw noted, this text has very high quality--fine documentation and a well reasoned, committed perspective. Overall, this text is probably the first step in rationally countering the trash that is *The Black Book of Communism*--call this chapter one of *The Black Book of Capitalism* (perhaps Blum's *Killing Hope* can be chapter 2).
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Subjects:  1. General    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History: World    5. Modern - 19th Century    6. Modern - General    7. Developing countries    8. Environmental impact of natural disasters & phenomena    9. Famine    10. Human rights    11. Social history    12. World history: c 1750 to c 1900    13. c 1800 to c 1900   

Subjects:  1. Constitutional    2. Law    3. Legal Reference / Law Profession    4. Property    5. Right of property    6. United States    7. Political Science / General   

Reviews (5)

fabulous first full encounter with bell hooks
Until now I have only read excerpts from bell hooks' works. Then I recently saw a C-Span program in which bell hooks led a discussion with a college audience. Reminded of the intriguing excerpts I had read, I chose Black Looks as my first full encounter with this intriguing woman's thoughts. Powerfully Moving
I'm biracial . . . my father is white and my mother is black, Latina, and Asian. hooks makes us look deeply and critically at the linkages of race, class, gender, and sexuality in ways that are painfully honest and moving. Oppression is never an easy topic. As she has stated, reading hooks' work should make us feel angry, sad, & uncomfortable. Finally, an intellectual who goes beyond the "taken-for-granted" simplistic non-analysis and makes us THINK DEEPLY! This book is a classic!

Bell Hooks is a Gifted Thinker
The cover of this book caught my attention at the library, so I just had to check it out. I must say, Bell Hooks's ideas and opinions are right on the money. She mentions issues such as black male masculinity, feminism, and racism and breaks them down very well. She's not the average traditional black feminist. She's not afraid to talk bad about white folks (like Madonna) and she's brave enough to use the word "white supremacy"; not in a militant way, but more reserved. It's easy to tell she's a liberal, but she's not restricted to traditional left-wing philosophy because of her strong Afro-centric view-points. This is a must read for all Black people, especially Black women who hardly have any intellectual role-model to look up to. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1975-    2. African American women    3. African Americans    4. Black American Sociology    5. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General    6. General    7. Politics - Current Events    8. Politics / Current Events    9. Racism    10. Social conditions    11. Sociology    12. Sociology Of Women    13. United States    14. Women's Studies - General    15. Black studies    16. Human rights    17. North America    18. Racism & racial discrimination    19. Social Science / Women's Studies   

Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (2)

Most Important Legal Book of the Year
This is an excellent book.
You Were There
Stohr's book reminded me of an old television program hosted by Walter Cronkite. It reenacted significant events in history and he always ended it by saying, "You were there." I felt as though I had been behind the scenes as those involved with the two affirmative action cases worked for victory. Stohr explains the legal terms clearly without being condescending. He delves into the personalities and the politics which determine the outcomes. I especially enjoyed his coverage of the Supreme Court. Stohr is an excellent, fair minded reporter. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Civil Rights    2. Constitutional    3. Education    4. Government - U.S. Government    5. Higher    6. Legal Reference / Law Profession    7. Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights    8. Admission    9. Affirmative action programs in education    10. Bollinger, Lee C.    11. Discrimination in education    12. Discrimination in higher education    13. Ethnic Orientation/African-American    14. Grutter, Barbara    15. Law / Constitutional    16. Law and legislation    17. Law/Civil Rights    18. Michigan    19. Political Science/Government - Comparative    20. Political Science/Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights    21. United States    22. University of Michigan   

Subjects:  1. General    2. Government - U.S. Government    3. Political Ideologies - Democracy    4. Political Science    5. Politics / Current Events    6. Politics/International Relations    7. Public Affairs & Administration    8. Public administration    9. State, The    10. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW    11. DEMOCRACY    12. Law / Constitutional    13. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT    14. Sociology, Social Studies   

Reviews (5)

Revised indeed.Whose Constitution is this?
Buy it only if the price is 50% off. That's because the first half of the work is a poorly written interpretation of our nation's most sacred document.Thankfully, the actual Constitution is provided in the second half.In the first 60 pages, the left-leaning declarations are so bizarre, it is hard to consider this book a serious work.
A simple but great intro tour through the Constutution.
This is a nuts and bolts introductory book on the Consitution. It definately dosn't analyze anything to any degree whatsoever, but if your looking for that there are plenty of other books to consider. This is one to start with.
Read it often
About a year ago, I saw a movie called The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. The movie is about President Chavez in Venezuela and the failed coup attempt on his presidency. In the background coverage of his presidency, the filmmakers recounted how as President, he encouraged his citizens to read their brand new constitution and learn it. They interviewed some Venezuelans who did not know to read, but had learned to read by reading their constitution.
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Subjects:  1. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    2. Constitutional law    3. Constitutions    4. Government - U.S. Government    5. History - General History    6. United States    7. United States - Colonial Period    8. Constitution: government & the state    9. Political Science / Constitutions    10. USA