The New Roberts Court, Donald Trump, and Our Failing Constitution
Authors: Feldman, Stephen M.
Free Preview- One of the first scholarly books to examine the political implications of the appointment of a new Supreme Court Justice after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia
- Presents an in-depth perspective on political judicial developments from a leading Constitutional law scholar
- Places Citizens United and related recent Supreme Court decisions in extensive historical context of developments in American political economy and Constitutional interpretation
- Offers forward-looking proposals for reforming the political system to restore a more “republican,” public-interest-oriented democracy
Buy this book
- About this book
-
This book traces the evolution of the constitutional order, explaining Donald Trump’s election as a symptom of a degraded democratic-capitalist system. Beginning with the framers’ vision of a balanced system—balanced between the public and private spheres, between government power and individual rights—the constitutional order evolved over two centuries until it reached its present stage, Democracy, Inc., in which corporations and billionaires wield herculean political power. The five conservative justices of the early Roberts Court, including the late Antonin Scalia, stamped Democracy, Inc., with a constitutional imprimatur, contravening the framers’ vision while simultaneously claiming to follow the Constitution’s original meaning. The justices believed they were upholding the American way of life, but they instead placed our democratic-capitalist system in its gravest danger since World War II. With Neil Gorsuch replacing Scalia, the new Court must choose: Will it follow the early Roberts Court in approving and bolstering Democracy, Inc., or will it restore the crucial balance between the public and private spheres in our constitutional system?
- About the authors
-
Stephen M. Feldman is Visiting Scholar at Harvard Law School, USA, and has been the Jerry W. Housel/Carl F. Arnold Distinguished Professor of Law and Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Wyoming, USA, since 2002. He has authored four scholarly books on Constitutional law and American legal thought, edited an anthology on law and religion, and written more than sixty articles and essay contributions on law, politics, and jurisprudence.
- Table of contents (8 chapters)
-
-
Introduction: Democracy, Inc., and the Betrayal of the Constitution
Pages 1-16
-
The Constitutional Framing: Republican Democracy, Private Property, and Free Expression
Pages 19-79
-
Republican Democracy Evolves: Corporations and Laissez Faire
Pages 83-104
-
Pluralist Democracy Saves the United States and Invigorates Free Expression
Pages 105-127
-
Pluralist Democracy Evolves: Free Expression, Judicial Conservatism, and the Cold War
Pages 129-158
-
Table of contents (8 chapters)
Bibliographic Information
- Bibliographic Information
-
- Book Title
- The New Roberts Court, Donald Trump, and Our Failing Constitution
- Authors
-
- Stephen M. Feldman
- Copyright
- 2017
- Publisher
- Palgrave Macmillan
- Copyright Holder
- The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s)
- eBook ISBN
- 978-3-319-56451-7
- DOI
- 10.1007/978-3-319-56451-7
- Softcover ISBN
- 978-3-319-56450-0
- Edition Number
- 1
- Number of Pages
- X, 274
- Topics
