Keith E. Whittington
William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics
Princeton University
American Constitutionalism, Volume Two: Rights and Liberties
Howard Gillman, Mark A. Graber, and Keith E. Whittington
Winner of the Teaching and Mentoring Award for innovative instructional materials in Law and Courts
Constitutionalism
in the United States is not determined solely by decisions made by the U.S.
Supreme Court. Moving beyond traditional
casebooks, American Constitutionalism
takes an innovative approach to the teaching of American constitutional law and
politics. Organized into the standard
two-semester sequence, with volume one covering institutions and volume two
covering rights and liberties, the text is distinctive in presenting the
material in a historical organization within each volume and fully integrating
the material into a political and legal context for students.
Many scholars have deepened our understanding of the development of our constitutional system, while also providing more interesting and sophisticated analyses of the political forces that shape constitutional debates and outcomes. American Constitutionalism has incorporated these lessons about how our constitutional system actually works while at the same time preserving what instructors and students find most engaging about the topic. These new materials allow instructors to develop more interesting explanations and debates about familiar issues, while at the same time introducing students to vitally important questions that are often excluded from Court-centered textbooks.
American Constitutionalism offers a number of useful features. It covers all important debates in American Constitution (not just those that have been recently litigated before the Supreme Court), organized by historical era. It incorporates readings from all the prominent participants in those debates. It clearly lays out the political and legal contexts of those materials. It integrates more documents and cases than any other text on the market, including decisions made by elected officials and state courts. The book offers numerous pedagogical features, including topical sections within each historical chapter, bulleted lists of major developments, explanatory headnotes for the readings, questions on court cases, illustrations and political cartoons, tables and figures, and suggested readings. The text is supported by websites for students and teachers with extensive supplementary materials, including additional readings, sample syllabi, instructor guides, and presentation slides.
Oxford University Press casebook
supplemental site --
This site is filled with supplemental materials for instructors and students,
including hundreds of additional excerpts from primary materials in American
constitutionalism, flashcards, and self-evaluation quizzes.
Praise for American Constitutionalism:
“This innovative text revolutionizes the teaching of American civil rights and liberties by presenting legal controversies over rights in their historical context. Students learn not only how rights work in the United States, but also how they have evolved over time, and how debates over rights have contributed to the development of the nation. The rich and varied documentary sources encourage students to think critically and creatively rather than memorizing doctrine by rote. A true gem for the instructor who wants students to grapple with core questions about how democracy has been articulated in the United States over time.”
JULIE NOVKOV, University of Albany, State University of New York
“The Rights and Liberties volume of Gillman, Graber, and Whittington's landmark American Constitutionalism will prove to be eye-opening and enriching to teachers and students alike. Surpassing all previous collegiate texts on the subject, the authors paint a vivid picture of American constitutional rights and liberties in the round. American Constitutionalism is a major achievement--a gold-standard teaching tool doubling as a penetrating account of the development of constitutional rights and liberties in America.”
KEN I. KERSCH, Boston College
“Through their innovative choice of sources and cogent historical framing, Gillman, Graber, and Whittington have made a groundbreaking and valuable contribution to the teaching of constitutional law. American Constitutionalism allows students to explore the content and historical context of landmark cases, the nature of constitutional change, and the role of judges, elected officials, and activists in shaping constitutional law. The book is accessible to a wide range of students, yet its primary source materials are varied and complex enough to engage even the most seasoned of scholars.”
EMILY ZACKIN, Hunter College, City University of New York
Did
you know that the U.S. Supreme Court was prepared to overrule McCulloch v. Maryland but did not have
the opportunity to do so because Jacksonian
politicians treated the case as a dead letter and killed any legislation that
would have tested congressional power under that precedent before the Civil
War? American
Constitutionalism reviews the debates that led to the Court’s decision in McCulloch v. Maryland, and also examines
the battles over Jackson’s veto of the Bank bill, his theory of the unitary
executive, and the censure resolution that followed his unilateral decision to
remove federal deposits from the Bank.
Did
you know that former Whigs such as Benjamin Curtis decried Lincoln’s abuse of
power in issuing the Emancipation Proclamation?
American Constitutionalism
reviews the debates over Lincoln’s assertions of emergency power during the
Civil War and the debates over the constitutionality of secession and the
status of the southern states during the Civil War and Reconstruction.
Did
you know that Franklin Roosevelt drafted a speech to be delivered in case the
government lost the Gold Clause Cases
in which he was prepared to announce that the government would not comply with
the Supreme Court because the president had a higher obligation “to protect the
people of the United States”? American Constitutionalism reviews the
cases and political context of the battles between the U.S. Supreme Court and
the administration during the early New Deal and details how the New Deal
transformed the constitutional landscape.
Did
you know that the head of Clinton’s Office of Legal Counsel prepared an
elaborate legal analysis on the president’s authority to decline to execute
statutes that he regarded to be unconstitutional? American
Constitutionalism reviews contemporary constitutional cases on federalism
and the separation of powers, while also providing extensive background on the
changing politics of judicial appointments, the rise of presidential signing
statements, and executive-branch justifications for initiating military
activities abroad and engaging in “enhanced interrogation” techniques.
With
American Constitutionalism, you can
explore the full range of theoretical, political, and legal questions that have
characterized the American effort to both empower and limit government
officials.
March 2012
816 pages, paper
ISBN 0-19-9975126-9 (pb)
$99.95 (pb)
Oxford University Press description
Oxford University Press
casebook supplemental site
-- This site is filled with supplemental materials for instructors and
students, including hundreds of additional excerpts from primary materials in
American constitutionalism, flashcards, and self-evaluation quizzes.
