Constitutional Law History

In Constitutional Law, we discuss the basic rules under the Constitution of the United States. We examine significant clauses within the Constitution and their interpretation over time, landmark Supreme Court cases, and many other topics covered in constitutional law, with numerous examples and analysis.

Discover the big ideas behind more than 90 of history's most important legal rulings and milestone laws - from the earliest civilizations to the 21st century. From the philosophical, religious, and moral codes of the world's earliest societies, such as the Law Code of Hammurabi and the Ten...

Ex-counterterrorist agent Kurt Albrecht, long retired and becoming increasingly angry with the current government and its policies, is the self-appointed commander of a home-grown militia group called The Constitutionalists. As Albrecht is suspected of hatching a destructive plot against the government, the U. S. National Security Advisor engages trusted former counterterrorist operative Bruce McGowan to infiltrate Albrecht's organization and determine the particulars of his plan.

The French Constitution of 1791 has a major legacy that overturned many centuries of historical tradition but remains little known outside of France. Its powerful impact served as the inspiration for the wave of constitution-making that engulfed Europe during the nineteenth century and expanded...

In this alarming book, Fox News commentator Judge Napolitano makes the solid case that there is a pernicious and ever-expanding pattern of government abuse in America's criminal justice system, leading him to establish his general creed: "The government is not your friend." As an attorney, a law...

Discover the gripping legal history and fierce political struggles that forged modern Canadian rights and Indigenous law. Long before European empires imposed their colonial rule, sophisticated Indigenous legal traditions already governed kinship, diplomacy, and the land. Witness the dramatic...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER “Shows us why Sandra Day O’Connor is so compelling as a human being and so vital as a public thinker.”—Michael Beschloss In this remarkable book, Sandra Day O’Connor explores the law, her life as a Supreme Court Justice, and how the Court has evolved and...

Rot and Revival is one of the first scholarly works to comprehensively theorize and document how politics make American constitutional law and how the courts affect the path of partisan politics. Rejecting the idea that the Constitution's significance and interpretation can be divorced from contemporary political realities, Anthony Michael Kreis explains how American constitutional law reflects the ideological commitments of dominant political coalitions, the consequences of major public policy choices, and the influences of intervening social movements.

In this original, provocative contribution to the debate over economic inequality, Ganesh Sitaraman argues that a strong and sizable middle class is a prerequisite for America’s constitutional system. A New York Times Notable Book of 2017 For most of Western history, Sitaraman argues...

Discover the big ideas behind more than 90 of history's most important legal rulings and milestone laws - from the earliest civilizations to the 21st century. From the philosophical, religious, and moral codes of the world's earliest societies, such as the Law Code of Hammurabi and the Ten...

This invaluable, easy-to-understand guide to world politics and government offers an accessible introduction to more than 80 of the most important theories and big ideas of leaders and politicians throughout history. The Politics Book makes government and politics easy to understand by...

A concise history of the long struggle between two fundamentally opposing constitutional traditions from one of the nation’s leading constitutional scholars—a manifesto for renewing our constitutional republic. Americans today are deeply divided—politically, ideologically, and culturally...

The controversy over birthright citizenship has generally been framed as a dispute over the meaning of a single sentence in the Fourteenth Amendment. Does the Citizenship Clause constitutionalize the English common-law rule that virtually every person born within the sovereign's dominions is a...

In The Majesty of the Law, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor explores the law, her life as a Justice, and how the Court has evolved and continues to function, grow, and change as an American institution. Tracing some of the origins of American law through history, people, and ideas...

This program is read by the author An innovative account of Abraham Lincoln, constitutional thinker and doer Abraham Lincoln is justly revered for his brilliance, compassion, humor, and rededication of the United States to achieving liberty and justice for all. He led the nation into a bloody...

Originalism Is Not Enough The Founding Fathers held certain truths to be "self-evident." Do we? In this profoundly important reassessment of constitutional interpretation, the eminent legal philosopher Hadley Arkes argues that "originalism" alone is an inadequate answer to the judicial activism...

This “authoritative [and] important” (The New York Times Book Review) “biography” of America’s framing document explores topics ranging from presidential power and freedom of speech to birthright citizenship and beyond, explaining not only what the Constitution says but also why the...

One of the most revered, imitated, and controversial governmental documents in the world, the US Constitution serves as the foundation for the American government and shapes the lives of Americans every day. But how many of us know its history and the impact it has on guiding our ever-evolving...

One of the most revered, imitated, and controversial governmental documents in the world, the US Constitution serves as the foundation for the American government and shapes the lives of Americans every day. But how many of us know its history and the impact it has on guiding our ever-evolving...

"A provocative extension of Jefferson’s original plan." —Kirkus Reviews Thomas Jefferson believed that every generation of Americans should rewrite our Constitution from scratch—to mirror the progress of the human mind and, most of all, to maintain the revolutionary spirit. He would be...