Book Description
For over fifty years, UNDERSTANDING THE CONSTITUTION has helped students understand and interpret the document that outlines America's fundamental rules and government structures. Always current and concise, this textbook goes beyond generalities to discover the major constitutional issues of our times, a constantly evolving process.
Customer Reviews:
Not the book I would choose for a class text .......2006-08-26
This is a well thought-out text that offers good clean insight into the historical background of the Constitution. I, personally, enjoyed reading it. My students, however, glaze over on the first page. It is written as more of a historical narrative and offers none of the washed out "end of chapter" ammenitites that we have come to rely upon. No powerpoints, test banks, etc.... It is simply too much of a "chunky monkey" that puts the reader in the position of intensely reading the material and constructing complex notes. This is the text I wish my students would eagerly read and engage themselves in, but then there is reality. Verdict - for use as an undergratuate class text - no. For use as a personal research primer or graduate text - yes.
Poor Teacher.......2006-04-01
Simply put, this book does relatively little in the way of actually teaching anything. Its main strength lies in explaining the Constitution line by line with commentary and extensive historical backing. However, the book simply lays out a TON of commentary without actually teaching the student anything at all. There are no questions for thought until the very end of the chapter, and the commentary following the Constitution's lines are most often altogether devoid of subheadings for organizational benefit. It is a very plain text that will provide a lot of information, but in a relatively meaningless manner for many individuals. Moreover, the commentary is interminably boring in nature, and thus an appeal to the reader's sense cannot be hoped for.
Regarding the review above naming this book a left-wing propaganda volume, the reviewer should not be heeded as his comments are completely ignorant and without support. I am a conservative, and I find that this book is not a convoluted view of the Constitution's meaning and interpretation by the Supreme Court. It really makes a good attempt at remaining quite neutral politically while being fair to the development of the Constitution historically.
However, the ability of the book to actually imbue the reader with knowledge through means of teaching a subject is what I am concerned with reviewing. For the lack thereof, I give the book a low rating.
Don't buy this book.......2001-04-26
They removed my last review, maybe this one will make it. Don't buy this book. Its written by a pack of convoluted thinking leftist bedwetters. if you want a factual book about the U.S. Constitution buy one published by the Cato Institute.
Step by step clarification.......2000-12-05
This book is a wonderful resource for someone interested in learning about the constition. This book walks you through the constitution line by line explaining and giving examples from actual court cases along the way. It's a little bit old, but I think it's definitly worth reading as a first look at the constitution.
Book Description
Developing a basic understanding of constitutional law is valuable knowledge to have as professionals and as public citizens. This publication assists the reader in developing that knowledge through a host of techniques that explain the complexities of this area of law. Visual aides make concepts easy to grasp, a constitutional time line provides an historical perspective and a constitutional summary helps readers see the overall picture as they study individual chapters. Lists of key terms, related Web sites, additional readings, chapter objectives, and practice questions are aimed at making the material more interesting to the reader and easier to retain.
Customer Reviews:
A gripping tale of constitutional theory and law.......2006-01-05
This book is great! Truly, Mr. DeLeo is a master on the subject. I picked this up on a reccomendation from a friend and couldnt put it down! I especially loved the briefing on the "circle-square effect". Never before have I been so titilated by a the law in all its glory. Mr. DeLeo takes what would otherwise be a bland subject and breathes life into it in a manner that is like unto a gripping thriller similar to any good John Grisham novel! Be sure to pick this today! I bought 3 more copies for my friends and we are all now excitedly awaiting the sequel! Congrats on a job well done!
Book Description
van Geel, Tyll R., Understanding Supreme Court Opinions, Third Edition*\ The Third Edition is thoroughly updated, taking into account new developments in constitutional law and scholarship. Going beyond the reading and interpretation of Supreme Court opinions, this practical book addresses the legal reasoning that comprises the written opinions themselves, giving readers a deeper understanding of how to read and interpret the decisions of our highest court.
For those interested in Supreme Court and constitutional laws.
Customer Reviews:
Learn how to read those tedious Supreme Court decisions........1998-09-08
I found Professor van Geel's book to be quite informative. It definitely helped in understanding how a justice of the Supreme Court would come to a conclusion in a case.
Customer Reviews:
Affirmative Action.......2007-07-22
An excellent review of background for Affirmative Action (AA) programs and issues. It also discusses many contemporary issues surrounding AA and brings in court cases that are relevant.
My students who were against AA to start with thought the book was biased in favor of AA. What could I say? I did ask them what a book about this subject that was more "Fair and Balanced" or a book that was against AA would look like. About all they could bring up is that AA is biased against white people. Maybe it is,somewhat, but I agree with the argument that any bias embedded in AA is intended to make up for eons of bias that closed many professional and even ordinary work fields and educational opportunities to blacks.
Customer Reviews:
Outstanding study aid!.......2003-05-08
This book is the perfect accompaniment to classroom instruction. The authors make the concepts clear and easy to understand through concise explanations of all the important cases and trends. Extremely handy when preparing for an exam!
Book Description
For many Americans, the word "constitution" means just one thing: the national Constitution. According to a recent survey, almost half do not know that individual states also have constitutions. Scholars have also paid little attention to state constitutions, favoring the apparently more dynamic and significant federal scene. G. Alan Tarr seeks to change that in this landmark book. A leading authority on state legal issues, he combines history, law, and political science to present a thorough and long-needed account of the distinct and important role of state constitutions in American life.
Tarr shows that state constitutional politics are dominated by three crucial issues with little salience at the national level: the distribution of power among groups and regions within states, the scope of state and local governmental authority, and the relation of the state to economic activity. He explains how state constitutions differ from the national Constitution in treating not only matters of high principle but also such mundane subjects as ski trails and motor vehicle revenues. He also explores why state constitutions, unlike their federal counterpart, have been so frequently amended and replaced. Tarr concludes that the United States not only has a system of dual constitutionalism but also has dual constitutional cultures.
Powerfully argued and meticulously researched, the book fills an important gap in political and legal studies and finally gives state constitutions the scholarly attention they richly deserve.
Customer Reviews:
Very good introduction to state constitutions.......2005-12-20
A surprising number of people are unaware that their state has a constitution. I once had a friend who asked me if Rhode Island had a constitution, which shocked me since he was an intelligent law student who had lived in Rhode Island for years. When the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court legalized gay marriage, many people asked me whether the US Supreme Court would reverse or uphold that decision and I had to explain why the US Court could not hear the case, to many confused looks. Tarr provides an excellent history of state constitutions through analysis of trends over each of the last three centuries. This analysis demonstrates that the standard dismissal of state constitutions because they embrace "legislation" rather than "great concepts" is illegitimate because state constitutions have had to adapt to different requirements and necessities than the federal constitution has had to deal with.
My only criticism is over Tarr's last chapter on interpretation. Like Tarr, I am also a firm believer that state courts need to interpret their state constitutions before turning to federal questions. However, Tarr errs in my opinion when he argues that state courts need to carefully examine other state constitutions and limit their analysis primarily to states where the provision at question was adopted from. This is a good lawyer's argument, but Tarr is a political scientist and political science has demonstrated that judges are policy actors. Thus, judges should be less concerned with whether their provision was taken from state X, then the actual policy lessons from any state that dealt with the issue before. A concrete example is education. Many state courts have attempted to strongly enforce their state right to education. However, many other state courts have looked at the policy problems this has lead to in states such as New Jersey and eschewed that same path without considering whether the wording or genesis of the provisions came from the same place. While I disagree with Tarr in this limited area, I think his book is the best introduction on state constitutions and would strongly recommend it to any new students of this area.
Book Description
For nearly 20 years, William Hubbs Rehnquist served as the 16th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. During these two decades, the Court issued major decisions involving federalism, abortion, affirmative action, civil rights, privacy, and the 2000 presidential election. Throughout his tenure, Justice Rehnquist was conventionally perceived as a conservative, partly for the anti-civil rights memos he had written earlier in his career. He became a lightning rod for controversy during his confirmation hearings for Associate Justice in 1972, and again in 1986 when he became Chief Justice. Hudson's balanced, nonpartisan examination of the Rehnquist Court and its personalities shows that, surprisingly, Rehnquist's conservatism is quite mild compared to that of the "ideological purity" of Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, and that Rehnquist did an admirable job of playing moderator as Chief Justice, exhibiting sensitivity toward his colleagues.
Average customer rating:
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Inherent Rights, the Written Constitution, and Popular Sovereignty: The Founders' Understanding (Contributions in Legal Studies)
Thomas B. McAffee
Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0313315078 |
Book Description
In recent decades the Ninth Amendment, a provision designed to clarify that the federal government was to be one of enumerated and limited powers, has been turned into an unenumerated rights clause that effectively grants unlimited power to the judiciary. Was this the intent of the framers of the Constitution? McAffee argues that the founders had a rather different set of priorities than ours, and that the goal of enforcing fundamental human rights was not why they drafted any of the first ten amendments. They did not intend to grant to the courts the power to generate fundamental rights, whether by reference to custom or history, reason or natural law, or societal values or consensus. It has become increasingly popular to identify our constitutional order as an experiment in the protection of fundamental human rights and to forget that it is also an experiment in self-government. As fundamental as the founding generation believed basic rights to be, they saw popular authority to make decisions about government as being even more central to the project in which they were engaged. They supported natural law and rights, but they felt strongly that those rights did not bind the people or their government unless they were inserted in the written Constitution. They did not contemplate that there would be unwritten limitations on the powers granted to government.
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful study of a wonderful subject........2007-09-14
This is a book that every American must read. Yes it does focus (is biased) toward "original intent". Why should we consider anyone's opinion of what the amendments should mean. That includes the opinions of some senile justice on the Supreme Court. What they believe the amendments should say is meaningless. The only important opinion is that of the founders, until the people change the meaning according to Constitutional procedure. If we don't like what it says, we can change it. But our politicians and judges can't do that arbitrarily. Just thought I would challenge the reviewer that prefers current interpretation over original intent.
A refreshing stroll through the amendments!!.......2002-08-21
This book is an amazing study. The book is ordered by amendment (or clause.) Within each part, the first essay focuses on the amendments original meaning and early history and the last essay focuses on the amendment today. Buyer beware. It seems that there is definitely a bias towards original meaning here, as each finishing essay comes to the conclusion that we've strayed from that original intent. But bias or not, can you blame them.
Of course that opens up an interesting dilemma that is unexplored in this book. Yes, we have strayed from original meaning (we've even FORGOTTEN the tenth amendments existence!) but this is only negative if you subscribe to 'original meaning' jurisprudence. As an aside, it seems most legal scholars and jurisprudential thinkers do not. Even Scalia and Posner, supposed conservatives, reject it; Scalia calling it 'the lesser evil.' This book assumes that readers share sympathy with original intent.
Where this book DOES prove its worth is in the attention payed to the fourth, fifth, ninth and tenth amendments- all of which are sadly neglected in legal dialogue of today. In fact, my favorite four essays were the ones focusing on amendments nine and ten.
So overall, this book's quality is high. On the whole, the essays are well written and exciting. But whether or not you've made up your mind on original meaning vs. broad principle jurisprudence, do check out "Interpreting the Constitution" edited by Jack Rakove.
A Must Read.......2000-09-26
Anyone involved in law or public policy must read this book. Hickok, perhaps one of the leading political scientists of our time, brilliantly describes the origin of the Bill of Rights, what it meant to the early Americans, and how we should understand it today. It's not often that you have a guide to take you back in history to such an important time and to look at the historical context of a document as crucial as the Bill of Rights!
Great book.......2000-03-29
This book is a great book for pre-law students. I was considering law and this book really got me interested in researching law more.
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Regulating Procurement: Understanding the Ends and Means of Public Procurement Regulation
Peter Trepte
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0198267754 |
Book Description
Public procurement regulation is the body of law dealing with the way in which public authorities award contracts. Procurement by public bodies has implications for a number of areas of law, in particular trade and competition law and administrative law. Failure to comply with public procurement rules can lead to public bodies being sued by unsuccessful contractors (or their governments), under national, EC or WTO law. The object of this study is to show why procurement is regulated at all and to provide an understanding of the differences between national and regional systems and a guide to the emerging international system. This book will provide an essential international and comparative perspective on the foundations of procurement for academics, practitioners and policy makers.
Books:
- Volatility and Correlation: The Perfect Hedger and the Fox (Wiley Finance)
- Wealth Beyond Reason
- Web and Software Development: A Legal Guide (With CD-ROM)
- West Federal Taxation 2007: Corporations, Partnerships, Estates, and Trusts (with RIA Checkpoint and Turbo Tax Business CD-ROM)
- Win Your Case: How to Present, Persuade, and Prevail--Every Place, Every Time
- Win Your Child Custody War: Child Custody Help Source Book--A How-To System for People Serious About the Welfare of Their Child (11th Edition)
- You Can Be Happy No Matter What: Five Principles for Keeping Life in Perspective
- Your Limited Liability Company: An Operating Manual
- Zero Limits: The Secret Hawaiian System for Wealth, Health, Peace, and More
- 2006 International Building Code - Softcover Version: Softcover Version (International Building Code)
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