Democracy's Privileged Few: Legislative Privilege and Democratic Norms in the British and American Constitutions

Chafetz, Josh

ISBN 10: 0300113250 / ISBN 13: 9780300113259

Published by YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1990

About this Item

Gently read. May have name of previous ownership, or ex-library edition. Binding tight; spine straight and smooth, with no creasing; covers clean and crisp. Minimal signs of handling or shelving. 100% GUARANTEE! Shipped with delivery confirmation, if you're not satisfied with purchase please return item! Ships USPS Media Mail.

Seller Inventory # OTV.0300113250.VG

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Democracy's Privileged Few: Legislative Privilege and Democratic Norms in the British and American Constitutions
• Publisher: YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
• Publication Date: 1990
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0300113250
• ISBN 13: 9780300113259
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: very_good

About this title

Synopsis

This book is the first to compare the freedoms and protections of members of the United States Congress with those of Britain’s Parliament. Placing legislative privilege in historical context, Josh Chafetz explores how and why legislators in Britain and America have been granted special privileges in five areas: jurisdictional conflicts between the courts and the legislative houses, freedom of speech, freedom from civil arrest, contested elections, and the disciplinary powers of the houses.
Legislative privilege is a crucial component of the relationship between a representative body and the other participants in government, including the people. In recounting and analyzing the remarkable story of how parliamentary government emerged and evolved in Britain and how it crossed the Atlantic, Chafetz illuminates a variety of important constitutional issues, including the separation of powers, the nature of representation, and the difference between written and unwritten constitutionalism.  This book will inspire in readers a much greater appreciation for the rise and triumph of democracy.

About the Author

Josh Chafetz is a student at Yale Law School where he is an editor for the Yale Law & Policy Review and the Yale Law Journal. He received his doctorate in politics from Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. He has written for the New York Times Book Review, New Republic, Commentary, Weekly Standard, and other journals. He lives in New Haven.