Request for consultation
Overview
AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, Volumes I and II, combines cases, decisions, and authorial commentary to make the texts a perfect instructional choice. These comprehensive volumes cover the entire range of topics in constitutional law. Volume I examines the institutional aspects of constitutional law; Volume II deals with civil rights and liberties. Each of the chapters includes an introductory essay providing the legal, historical, political, and cultural context of Supreme Court jurisprudence in a particular area of constitutional interpretation. Each chapter also contains several boxed features (labeled “Case in Point” and “Sidebar”) to provide additional perspective and context for the set of edited decisions from the United States Supreme Court cases that follow .In selecting, editing, and updating the materials, the authors emphasize recent trends in major areas of constitutional interpretation, as well as many landmark decisions, some of which retain importance as precedents while others illustrate the transient nature of constitutional interpretation. Because the book provides a good balance of decisions and authorial commentary, this text appeals to instructors of law as well as instructors of political science.
What's New
Show More- New! Cases have been updated and new cases have been added to reflect the most significant recent decisions of the Supreme Court, as well as other major constitutional developments in the last several years, including the recent controversies over “Obamacare,” illegal immigration, gun control, terrorism, gay rights/same-sex marriage, and campaign finance.
- New! The organization of Volume I has expanded the introduction into a full-blown chapter that provides more depth in coverage of the adoption and ratification of the Constitution, as well as a more thorough overview of its contents. This new Chapter 1 also includes edited versions of three of James Madison’s most influential essays from the Federalist Papers.
- New! The website has been updated with additional cases not found in the book.
- New! The instructor’s manual has been updated with new test questions and new sections on how to introduce a lecture topic to the class.
- New! The student website now contains tutorial quizzes, glossaries, crossword puzzles, and flashcards, all correlated by chapter.
Features
Show More- This edition includes acknowledgement of all, or nearly all, of the Court’s consequential decisions made in the last five years.
- Not merely a casebook, this comprehensive textbook caters to undergraduate constitutional law students by providing historical and biographical background information that is crucial to understanding the principle that is set in each case.
- Dissenting and concurring opinions are included to reveal the political struggle among Justices.
- A companion Web site includes links to a Supreme Court archive of cases—giving students the freedom to explore additional cases while offering instructors the chance to take their course beyond the textbook.
- Pedagogy includes key terms, section-ending summaries to help keep the student on track as they read through each chapter, and suggested Internet resources to encourage further study.
Table of Contents
Show MorePREFACE.
1. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE U.S. CONSTITUTION.
Introduction.
Historical Background.
The Constitutional Convention.
The Battle over Ratification.
Key Features of the Constitution.
The Enduring Constitution.
Conclusion.
Key Terms.
For Further Reading.
The Federalist No. 10.
The Federalist No. 47.
2. THE SUPREME COURT IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM.
Introduction.
The Courts: Crucibles of Constitutional Law.
Access to Judicial Review.
The Supreme Court’s Decision Making Process.
The Development of Judicial Review.
Judicial Activism and Restraint.
External Constraints on Judicial Power.
Explaining the Court’s Behavior.
Conclusion.
Key Terms.
For Further Reading.
The Federalist No. 78.
Marbury v. Madison (1803).
Eakin v. Raub (1825).
Scott v. Sandford (1857).
Ex parte McCardle (1869).
Cooper v. Aaron (1958).
Baker v. Carr (1962).
Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow (2004).
3. CONGRESS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL POWER.
Introduction.
Structural Aspects of Congress.
Constitutional Sources of Congressional Power.
The Power to Investigate.
Regulation of Interstate Commerce.
Taxing and Spending Powers.
Congressional Enforcement of Civil Rights and Liberties.
Conclusion.
Key Terms.
For Further Reading.
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819).
Watkins v. United States (1957).
Barenblatt v. United States (1959).
Gibbons v. Ogden (1824).
Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918).
Carter v. Carter Coal Company (1936).
National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation (1937).
Wickard v. Filburn (1942).
Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States (1964).
Katzenbach v. McClung (1964).
United States v. Lopez (1995).
Gonzales v. Raich (2005).
National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012).
United States v. Butler (1936).
Steward Machine Company v. Davis (1937).
South Dakota v. Dole (1987).
South Carolina v. Katzenbach (1966).
City of Boerne v. Flores (1997).
4. CONSTITUTIONAL UNDERPINNINGS OF THE PRESIDENCY.
Introduction.
Structural Aspects of the Presidency.
Theories of Presidential Power.
The Veto Power.
Appointment and Removal Powers.
The Power to Grant Pardons.
Executive Privilege.
Presidential Immunity.
Foreign Policy and International Relations.
War Powers.
Conclusion.
Key Terms.
For Further Reading.
The Federalist No. 70.
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company v. Sawyer (1952).
Wiener v. United States (1958).
United States v. Nixon (1974).
Clinton v. Jones (1997).
United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corporation (1936).
Dames & Moore v. Regan (1981).
The Prize Cases (1863).
Korematsu v. United States (1944).
Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006).
United States v. United States District Court (1972).
5. THE ADMINISTRATIVE STATE AND THE COMPLEXITIES OF MODERN GOVERNANCE.
Introduction.
Delegation of Legislative Power.
Additional Separation of Powers Concerns.
Congressional Control of Administrative Actions.
Presidential Control of the Bureaucracy.
Judicial Oversight over the Administrative State.
Agency Actions and Individual Rights.
Conclusion.
Key Terms.
For Further Reading.
J. W. Hampton & Company v. United States (1928).
Schechter Poultry Corporation v. United States (1935).
Mistretta v. United States (1989).
Whitman v. American Trucking Associations (2001).
Citizens for Abatement of Aircraft Noise (1991).
Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha (1983).
Gonzales v. Oregon (2006).
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation v. Natural Resources Defense Council (1978).
Goldberg v. Kelly (1970).
Mathews v. Eldridge (1976).
6. THE DYNAMICS OF THE FEDERAL SYSTEM.
Introduction.
Development of the Federal System.
Federalism in the Modern Era.
The Commerce Clause and State Regulatory Authority.
State Taxing Power.
Interstate Relations.
Conclusion.
Key Terms.
For Further Reading.
Chisholm v. Georgia (1793).
Texas v. White (1869).
United States v. Darby (1941).
Arizona v. United States (2012).
National League of Cities v. Usery (1976).
Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority (1985).
Printz v. United States (1997).
Tennessee v. Lane (2004).
Cooley v. Board of Port Wardens (1852).
Oregon Waste Systems v. Department of Environmental Quality (1994).
Granholm v. Heald (2005).