Can your students get a good understanding of constitutional law if you leave out the politics? Epstein and Walker would say no and believe that any study of constitutional law is richer and more rewarding when its political context is emphasized. Simply put, political factors influence judicial decisions. Arguments and input from lawyers and interest groups, the positions of elected officials, the ebb and flow of public opinion, and especially the ideological and behavioral inclinations of the justices all combine to influence the development of constitutional doctrine. Drawing on political science as much as from legal studies, Constitutional Law for a Changing America helps students realize—quite powerfully—that Supreme Court cases are more than just legal names and citations. The landmark cases analyzed and excerpted in this exceptional two-volume set involve real people embroiled in real disputes whose cases have real political consequences.
The authors have carefully created structure and features in each chapter that enhance learning. Not only do they provide substantive commentary around cases, helping students to see a case within the larger picture of an evolving and dynamic body of law, they encourage students to see alternative points of view by including excerpts of important concurring and dissenting opinions for virtually all cases in the book. The popular Aftermath and Global Perspective boxes answer students’ lingering questions about what happened to litigants after a ruling or how U.S. case law compares to the law in other nations.. Epstein and Walker also include profiles of influential groups and justices, photographs of litigants, exhibits from cases, and lively descriptions of the events that led to the suits. Web addresses are included throughout, giving students easy access to the full text of opinions as well as to audio recordings of oral arguments when available.
In a thorough exploration of the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the political power distributed by the Constitution, Epstein and Walker examine such essential concepts as separation of powers and federalism, as well as the government’s authority to conduct war, regulate commerce, tax, spend, and limit rights to property and contracts. This revised volume includes both recent and important rulings on limits to federal power, and thoughtfully examines the impact of national emergencies, terrorism, and the war in Iraq on the government’s capacity to act in the interests of national security.
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Constitutional Law for a Changing America: Institutional Powers and Constraints, 6th Edition Table of Contents Part I. The U.S. Constitution Testimonials “Constitutional Law for a Changing America is unique in successfully marrying the concerns of modern political science with our stock-in-trade, the close analysis of famous cases, and doing so in a way undergraduates find not only palatable but also stimulating.” - Gregory A. Caldeira, Ohio State University“I rely on Epstein and Walker to provide my students with well-edited case opinions placed within rich historic and political narratives. This approach reminds students of constitutional law that the decisions that emanate from the Supreme Court are the product of not only legal reason, but also a complex set of forces within and outside the Court. With this perspective, my students and I are better able to take on the questions Epstein and Walker pose to their readers. Strategically, the authors leave many of their own questions unanswered, resulting in spirited class discussions that force students to reach conclusions for themselves.” - Bill Swinford, University of Kentucky“Constitutional Law for a Changing America is an accessible introduction to the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court that provides students with the tools and information necessary to understand the transformation of American constitutional law. Concisely edited opinions paired with a history of the political and legal dynamic of the era in which decisions were written ensures that the doctrines established by the justices are placed in the appropriate and necessary context. This approach makes the material easy to grasp for students from a variety of academic disciplines, including political science, history, sociology, and education. The result is a text that makes teaching a diverse student body much easier and learning complex concepts more interesting.” - Charles Jacobs, Kent State University“I believe that Constitutional Law for a Changing America: Institutional Powers and Constraints, now in its sixth edition, is the best constitutional law textbook on the market. I have been using it since the third edition in 1998, and have discovered that my students, who are mostly political science majors, love it. When Epstein and Walker combined a distinctive ‘law and politics’ perspective with a keen sense of the most significant historical and contemporary cases, and then mixed in just the right amount of useful supplementary materials, the result was a valuable new product for use in the political science classroom. Students and professor alike are grateful to Epstein and Walker for having accomplished the alchemist’s dream of turning the dense ore of American constitutional law into gold.” - Michael C. Tolley, Northeastern State UniversityBio(s)
Lee Epstein, Washington University, St. Louis Lee Epstein is the Beatrice Kuhn Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University. She is also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Academy of Political and Social Science. She received her Ph.D. from Emory University. She is coauthor of The Supreme Court and Legal Change: Abortion and the Death Penalty (1992) with Joseph Kobylka; Advice and Consent: The Politics of Judicial Appointments (2005) with Jeffrey A. Segal; The Supreme Court Compendium: Data, Decisions, and Developments, 4th ed. (2007) with Segal, Harold J. Spaeth, and Thomas G. Walker; and The Choices Justices Make (1998) with Jack Knight, which won the C. Herman Pritchett Award for the best book on law and courts. In addition, she is coauthor, with Walter F. Murphy and C. Herman Pritchett of Courts, Judges and Politics, 6th ed. (2006). Thomas G. Walker, Emory University
Thomas G. Walker is Goodrich C. White Professor of Political Science at Emory University where he has won several teaching awards for his courses on constitutional law and the judicial process. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky. His book, A Court Divided, written with Deborah J. Barrow, won the prestigious V.O. Key Award for the best book on southern politics. He is the coauthor of The Supreme Court Compendium: Data, Decisions, and Developments, 4th ed. (2007) with Lee Epstein, Jeffrey A. Segal, and Harold J. Spaeth. |