In this groundbreaking text, three highly acclaimed scholars provide historical context that puts the politics back into constitutional studies.
Constitutionalism in the United States is not determined solely by decisions made by the Supreme Court. Moving beyond traditional casebooks, renowned scholars Howard Gillman, Mark A. Graber, and Keith E. Whittington take a refreshingly innovative approach inAmerican Constitutionalism. Organized according to the standard two-semester sequence--in whichVolume I covers institutions and Volume II coversRights and Liberties-- this text is unique in that it presents the material in a historical organization within each volume, as opposed to the typical issues-based organization.
FEATURES:
* Covers all important debates in U.S. constitutionalism, organized by historical era
* Incorporates readings from all of the prominent participants in those debates
* Clearly lays out the political and legal contexts in chapter introductions
* Integrates more documents and cases than any other text on the market, including decisions made by elected officials and state courts
* Offers numerous pedagogical features, including topical sections within each historical chapter, bulleted lists of major developments, explanatory headnotes for the readings, questions on court cases, illustrations and political cartoons, tables, and suggested readings
"American Constitutionalism marks a new age in the teaching of constitutional law. The book elegantly presents a historicized and developmental account that unveils the political and institutional roots of contemporary constitutional controversies. History and politics come alive for students as they engage constitutional problems as concrete political and legal struggles with stakes that span all American institutions, not just the courts. Ideal both for students who need basic background in US political history and students who are ready to move beyond the simple narratives they learned in secondary school, the text places major cases in their proper contexts through the integration of different types of primary sources. This helps students not just to understand the outcomes, but to see why they are important. After using this text, I can't imagine teaching constitutional law any other way."--Julie Novkov, University at Albany, State University of New York
"With the long-awaited publication of Gillman, Graber, and Whittington's American Constitutionalism, students can finally see vividly how American constitutional development has been shaped by a fascinating array of political actors--legislators, Presidents, and political party and social movement leaders--not just by courts. As a result, they can gain a much richer sense of American constitutional history, principles, and debates than most casebooks provide. A landmark contribution to the teaching and study of American constitutionalism."--Rogers M. Smith, University of Pennsylvania
"An important and refreshing challenge to the traditional case method of teaching constitutional law."--Jason Pierceson, University of Illinois Springfield
"Gillman, Graber, and Whittington present the landmark cases in temporal context
with each other, encouraging students to understand their places in the political
and constitutional dilemmas of the eras in which they were decided." --Law and Social Inquiry
