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, 2007

About this Item

1st EDITION, 1st PRINTING. This copy is NEW; the text is clear, bright, and unmarked; binding is tight. First edition, unstated but earliest appearance of book. Stated 1st Printing. The jacket is also new: absolutely intact, including perfect color and design. We have a five star rating because of our fulfilment success and because our descriptions are accurate. All shipments within U.S. sent with Tracking. On foreign sales, because of the heavy weight of this book, we have to charge extra for shipping: however, we will only charge the difference between our regular shipping rate and the extra charge that the U.S.Post Office asks to ship the book. We guarantee: NO NASTY SURPRISES.

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Democracy?s Privileged Few: Legislative Privilege and Democratic Norms in the British and American Constitutions
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication Date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0300113250
• ISBN 13: 9780300113259
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: New
• Dust Jacket Condition: New

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.