United States Constitutional Law: Chapter 1 (Introduction)
United States Constitutional Law, 2019, ISBN: 9781640208018
Duke Law School Public Law & Legal Theory Series No. 2019-23
17 Pages Posted: 20 Feb 2019
Date Written: February 1, 2019
Abstract
United States Constitutional Law (Found. Press 2019) guides law students, political science students, and engaged citizens through the complexities of U.S. Supreme Court doctrine and its relationship to constitutional politics — in key areas ranging from federalism and presidential power to equal protection and substantive due process. Rather than approach constitutional law as a static structure or imagine the Supreme Court as acting in isolation from society, the book elucidates key constitutional doctrines while also drawing on scholarship in law and political science that connects doctrine to large social changes such as industrialization, social movements such as civil rights and second-wave feminism, and institutional tensions between governmental actors.
Combining legal analysis with historical narrative and sensitivity to political context, the book provides deeper understanding of how constitutional law arises, functions, and changes in a complex, often-divided society. Besides its usefulness to scholars, the book could also function as a text for political science or LLM students; required reading for law students; or a recommended resource for students and lawyers. Chapter 1, which is posted along with this abstract, provides an overview of the book and its approach.
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