United States Constitutional Law (Concepts and Insights)

United States Constitutional Law guides law students, political science students, and engaged citizens through the complexities of U.S. Supreme Court doctrineand its relationship to constitutional politicsin 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 elaborates and clarifies key constitutional doctrines while also drawing on scholarship in law and political science that relates the doctrines 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. Farber and Siegel have written an excellent introduction to American constitutional law and constitutional theory that emphasizes the continual interactions between constitutional law and constitutional politics. Clear, concise, and judicious, this splendid book will interest professors, lawyers, and students alike. Jack M. Balkin, Yale Law School Dan Farber and Neil Siegel have given us a book on constitutional law that takes law seriously while also taking political science and history seriously. Anyone with an interest in constitutional law will find this book accessible and engaging; experts in the field will learn a lot from it. This is a genuinely impressive achievement. David A. Strauss, University of Chicago Law School