A
New Introduction to American Constitutionalism is the first text to
study the entirety of American constitutionalism, not just the traces
that appear in Supreme Court decisions. Mark A. Graber both explores and
offers original answers to such central questions as: What is a
Constitution, ? What are fundamental constitutional purposes? How are
constitutions interpreted? How is constitutional authority allocated?
How to constitutions change? How is the Constitution of the United
States influenced by international and comparative law? and, most
important, How does the Constitution work? Relying on an
historical/institutional perspective, the book illustrates how American
constitutionalism is a distinct form of politics, rather than a means
from separating politics from law. Constitutions work far more by
constructing and constituting politics than by compelling people to do
what they would otherwise do. People debate the proper meaning of the
first amendment, but these debates are influenced by the rule that all
states are equally represented in the Senate and a political culture
that in which political dissenters do not fear for their lives. More
than any other work on the market, A New Introduction to American
Constitutionalism highlights and expands on what a generation for law
professors, political scientists and historians have said about the
American constitutionalism regime. As such, this is the first truly
interdisciplinary study of constitutional politics in the United States.
