The Democratic Constitution - Softcover

Devins, Neal; Fisher, Louis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0195171233 ISBN 13: 9780195171235

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2004

Synopsis

Constitutional law is clearly shaped by judicial actors. But who else contributes? Scholars in the past have recognized that the legislative branch plays a significant role in determining structural issues, such as separation of powers and federalism, but stopped there--claiming that only courts had the independence and expertise to safeguard individual and minority rights. In this readable and engaging narrative, the authors identify the nuts and bolts of the national dialogue and relate succinct examples of how elected officials and the general public often dominate the Supreme Court in defining the Constitution's meaning. Making use of case studies on race, privacy, federalism, war powers, speech, and religion, Devins and Fisher demonstrate how elected officials uphold individual rights in such areas as religious liberty and free speech as well as, and often better than, the courts.

This fascinating debunking of judicial supremacy argues that nonjudicial contributions to constitutional interpretation make the Constitution more stable, more consistent with constitutional principles, and more protective of individual and minority rights.

About this title

About the Author:

Neal Devins is Ernst W. Goodrich Professor of Law and Government at the College of William and Mary. He is also editor of the Constitutional Conflicts Book Series at Duke University Press. Louis Fisher is senior specialist in separation of powers at the Congressional Research Service. He testifies before congressional committees on a variety of constitutional issues, including war powers, executive privilege, item vetoes, legislative vetoes, and covert spending.

Review:

"...well-suited for use as a supplementary graduate text...packed with useful information. For those who still assume that our Constitution only lives in Supreme Court opinions, the book will be an eye-opening corrective."--Perspectives on Politics

"In a discussion that ranges from review of the Supreme Court's decisions on federalism and war powers to speech, religion, race, and separation of powers, the authors ably demonstrate how constitutional interpretation is a dialogue among the judiciary, Congress, and the president, with the latter two often either acquiescing in judicial supremacy for political reasons or choosing to ignore it for the same. This is an excellent supplement for collections on law, the Supreme Court, and national politics."--Choice

"Few surpass Devins and Fisher in the scrupulousness and comprehensiveness of their knowledge of the constitutional text, as well as of the ways in which, over the course of American history, the meaning of the text has been parsed, separately and conjunctively, by the Court, the Congress, and the executive branch.... a model for the way they believe constitutional questions should be discussed.... The author's historical knowledge is deep enough for them to have seen it all."--The Law and Politics Book Review

"Neal Devins and Louis Fisher provide a valuable introduction to the processes by which constitutional law is made, demonstrating that it is the product, not solely of the Supreme Court, but of interactions among the Court, Congress, and the presidency. This is a useful contribution to our understanding of the Constitution inside and outside the courts."--Mark Tushnet, author of Taking the Constitution Away From the Courts

"It is often thought that the Constitution has been entrusted to the courts for safekeeping. This book demonstrates how wrong that conventional wisdom is. The Constitution is a part of our democratic politics, and this book amply shows the importance and relevance of the political process to the success of our constitutional experiment."--Keith E. Whittington, author of Constitutional Construction

"An immensely useful work that will be of interest to everyone who has ever wondered about where constitutional rules come from."--Michael J. Glennon, author of iConstitutional Diplomacy

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0195171233
• ISBN 13: 9780195171235
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320