The Oxford Handbook of the U.S. Constitution

The Oxford Handbook of the U.S. Constitution offers a comprehensive overview and introduction to the U.S. Constitution from the perspectives of history, political science, law, rights, and constitutional themes, while focusing on its development, structures, rights, and role in the U.S. political system and culture. This Handbook enables readers within and beyond the U.S. to develop a critical comprehension of the literature on the Constitution, along with accessible and up-to-date analysis.

The historical essays included in this Handbook cover the Constitution from 1620 right through the Reagan Revolution to the present. Essays on political science detail how contemporary citizens in the United States rely extensively on political parties, interest groups, and bureaucrats to operate a constitution designed to prevent the rise of parties, interest-group politics and an entrenched bureaucracy. The essays on law explore how contemporary citizens appear to expect and accept the exertions of power by a Supreme Court, whose members are increasingly disconnected from the world of practical politics. Essays on rights discuss how contemporary citizens living in a diverse multi-racial society seek guidance on the meaning of liberty and equality, from a Constitution designed for a society in which all politically relevant persons shared the same race, gender, religion and ethnicity. Lastly, the essays on themes explain how in a "globalized" world, people living in the United States can continue to be governed by a constitution originally meant for a society geographically separated from the rest of the "civilized world." Whether a return to the pristine constitutional institutions of the founding or a translation of these constitutional norms in the present is possible remains the central challenge of U.S. constitutionalism today.

The American experience has long been central to global conversations about constitutional law and politics. Whether the United States is viewed as a model or anti-model of comparative experience, engaging with the American case is part of the grammar of contemporary constitutional practice. This outstanding Handbook is an indispensable resource for scholars and practitioners seeking to orient themselves to the American constitutional project. The superb contributions span an extraordinarily wide array of topics and disciplinary approaches, and will stand the test of time as important pieces of scholarship. As a collection, they are every bit as rich and diverse as American constitutionalism itself. Every serious student of constitutional law and politics will profit enormously from closely studying this landmark volume." -Sujit Choudhry, I. Michael Heyman Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley, School of Law

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