{"product_id":"taking-the-constitution-away-from-the-courts-9780691070353","title":"Taking the Constitution Away from the Courts","description":"\u003cp\u003eHere a leading scholar in constitutional law  Mark Tushnet  challenges hallowed American traditions of judicial review and judicial supremacy  which allow U.S. judges to invalidate \"unconstitutional\" governmental actions. Many people  particularly liberals  have \"warm and fuzzy\" feelings about judicial review. They are nervous about what might happen to unprotected constitutional provisions in the chaotic worlds of practical politics and everyday life. By examining a wide range of situations involving constitutional rights  Tushnet vigorously encourages us all to take responsibility for protecting our liberties. Guarding them is not the preserve of judges  he maintains  but a commitment of the citizenry to define itself as \"We the People of the United States.\" The Constitution belongs to us collectively  as we act in political dialogue with each other--whether in the street  in the voting booth  or in the legislature as representatives of others.  Tushnet urges that we create a \"populist\" constitutional law in which judicial declarations deserve no special consideration. But he warns that in so doing we must pursue reasonable interpretations of the \"thin Constitution\"--the fundamental American principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble to the Constitution. A populist Constitution  he maintains  will be more effective than a document exclusively protected by the courts. Tushnet believes  for example  that the serious problems of the communist scare of the 1950s were aggravated when Senator Joseph McCarthys opponents were lulled into inaction  believing that the judicial branch would step in and declare McCarthys actions unconstitutional. Instead of fulfilling the expectations  the Court allowed McCarthy to continue his crusade until it was ended. Tushnet points out that in this context and in many others  errors occurred because of the existence of judicial review: neither the People nor their representatives felt empowered to enforce the Constitution because they mistakenly counted on the courts to do so. Tushnets clarion call for a new kind of constitutional law will be essential reading for constitutional law experts  political scientists  and others interested in how and if the freedoms of the American Republic can survive into the twenty-first century.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45652399358005,"sku":"ByrdShop_0691070350","price":35.57,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780691070353.jpg?v=1781851409","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/taking-the-constitution-away-from-the-courts-9780691070353","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}