As an edifice to the impact of law in modern society, each essay systematically analyses the massive overhaul of the former oppressive laws by pro-active legislation and the consequent interpretation of those laws by an active judicial branch aided by the values entrenched in the constitution. The sub-themes dictate a wide-ranging coverage of areas of present-day legal developments. Accordingly, the title commences with a discussion on the enforcement of socio-economic rights in the Bill of rights. It focuses on the controversies surrounding the provision by government of the drug, Nevirapine, to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. The title then examines legal responses to the problems faced by children in light of the fact that the constitution has elevated the rights of the child to a fundamental right. One area of controversy and persistent wrangling that will not go away in a hurry is the "land question" which fittingly elicits discussion in the book. Other fundamental rights issues discussed in this title include the recent protection of the environment through law, the reform of the outdated social security system and the right to fair administrative action. Changes brought about by the constitution are not solely confined to the areas of public law. They similarly affect other branches of the law through the horizontal application of the Bill of rights, hence the discussions in the book on vital topics in mercantile, company and labour law.

This work provides the first in-depth study of the Twelfth Amendment of the United States Constitution from the larger perspective of the development of the electoral college. Too often viewed as a modest reform to prevent the recurrence of the 1800-1801 election crisis, the Twelfth Amendment, according to Kuroda, was actually the decisive step in the evolution of the modern electoral college. Significantly, the amendment implicitly recognized the existence of national political parties and allowed the party which won the most electoral votes to win the offices of President and Vice President. But it was also significant for what it did not do: it did not abolish presidential electors; did not prohibit a winner-take-all electoral system; and did not mandate district election of electors.

Students learn about the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment and discover how just 16 words in the U.S. Constitution inaugurated a debate that continues to this day. The author objectively follows the debate in relation to prayer in public schools, government support for religious schools, the right to speak and raise money for religious causes, when religion conflicts with the law, and where this issue stands today.

This up-to-date collection of essays addresses key elements of the law and politics of voting rights: the Supreme Court's jurisprudence, the impact of the Voting Rights Act, and the opportunities for enhanced minority representation posed by alternative electoral systems. This volume, comprised of contributions by leading legal and political science practitioners in the field of voting rights, will be a valuable resource to experienced researchers and newcomers to the field. It includes current assessments of the intricacies of the Supreme Court's decisions, current research on the impact of the the Voting Rights Act on the various minority groups it purports to assist, and critical analysis of the use of alternative electoral systems.

This insightful research review provides an analysis of the modern literature on foreign relations law. The topics explored include; the history of foreign relations law, the role of the courts in adjudicating foreign affairs disputes, executive power over foreign affairs, the domestic status of treaties, the phenomenon of executive agreements, the judicial application of customary international law, and the distribution of authority over war powers. The review provides a unique birds-eye view of the entire field and promises to be an invaluable tool for academics as well as a fascinating read for those interested in the subject.

Since the "surge" in Iraq in 2006, counterinsurgency effectively became America's dominant approach for fighting wars. Yet many of the major controversies and debates surrounding counterinsurgency have turned not on military questions but on legal ones: Who can the military attack with drones? Is the occupation of Iraq legitimate? What tradeoffs should the military make between self-protection and civilian casualties? What is the right framework for negotiating with the Taliban? How can we build the rule of law in Afghanistan?
The Counterinsurgent's Constitution tackles this wide range of legal issues from the vantage point of counterinsurgency strategy. Ganesh Sitaraman explains why law matters in counterinsurgency: how it operates on the ground and how law and counterinsurgency strategy can be better integrated. Counterinsurgency, Sitaraman notes, focuses on winning over the population, providing essential services, building political and legal institutions, and fostering economic development. So, unlike in conventional war, where law places humanitarian restraints on combat, law and counterinsurgency are well aligned and reinforce one another. Indeed, following the law and building the rule of law is not just the right thing to do, it is strategically beneficial. Moreover, reconciliation with enemies can both help to end the conflict and preserve the possibility of justice for war crimes. Following the rule of law is an important element of success.
The first book on law and counterinsurgency strategy, The Counterinsurgent's Constitution seamlessly integrates law and military strategy to illuminate some of the most pressing issues in warfare and the transition from war to peace. Its lessons also apply to conflicts in Libya and other hot-spots in the Middle East.

Increasingly, state regulations are implemented and exercised by the administrative discretion of state bureaucracies. This increased rulemaking activity threatens to rival, or even replace, state legislatures as the principal source of new laws emanating from state government. To combat this, state legislatures now routinely seek to regain their preeminence as lawmakers by overseeing administrative rulemaking authority. This oversight is frequently conducted through a process known as rules review. The process, a systematic form of legislative oversight, encourages the responsible exercise of rulemaking authority by requiring legislative scrutiny of proposed regulations prior to final adoption by the issuing agency. "Regulating the RegulatorS" presents an introduction to rules review. James R. Bowers examines this process through an in depth case study of the Illinois General Assembly.

Regulating the Regulators presents an introduction to this important and widely used method of oversight by state legislatures. The author poses three basic questions about rules review that previous works have not asked: Why is a state legislature likely to incorporate rules reviews in its oversight arsenal? What is the substance and nature of rules review likely to be? What factors are likely to contribute to agency responsiveness to rules review? These questions are examined through an in depth case study of the rules review process in the Illinois General Assembly. From this case study, Regulating the Regulator develops a number of analytic generalizations upon which future research and a more general understanding of rules review can be built. Students of both legislative an administrative process, as well as state legislators and state level public administrators, will find "Regulating the RegulatorS" a valuable source of information. This book is particularly well-suited for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in state governement and politics, administrative process, regulatory politics, and administrative theory.

This examination of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) traces the American origins of the belief that the citizens of a democracy have a natural right to know about the workings of their government. The issue began in the colonies and came to a head in the 1950s when escalating government secrecy led the press to demand open government. Declaring that the public business is the public's business, a series of crusading newspaper editors aroused public support for the Freedom of Information Act which was passed in 1966.

The book features in-depth interviews with the architects of the FOIA, the FOIA staff in the major federal agencies, and the most prominent FOIA users throughout the country. The concluding chapter examines current impediments to the full realization of the people's right to know.

In a time when American politics has become a spectator sport often viewed with a cynical eye by the people, it is needful to be reminded that our freedom entails a civic responsibility to preserve the legal document that gives us that freedom, the United States Constitution. The Constitution is a contract to which all citizens are parties and upon which they have a right to rely. The people have as well the right to protect themselves from interpretations that go unreasonably beyond the original intent of the Framers. It is clear that in the past the Constitution has been abused to justify decisions made by the legislative and judicial branches of government (as in the Dred Scott case) that have since been overturned. Decisions that extend the powers of the federal government beyond the expressly stated limits declared in the Constitution continue to occur today and remain subjects of intensely debated contention. This book gives detailed examples of where Congress and the Supreme Court have gone outside the peoples mutual contract and have, in effect, amended the Constitution. The last chapter outlines a procedure by which citizens, voting directly, can overrule or repeal amendments made by elements of their government.

This volume contains nine national reports and the general report on the subject of developing trends of parliamentarism. Except for the chapters on Spain, the reports have been written for the XIVth Congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law which was held in 1994 in Athens, Greece. "Parliamentarism" describes the evolution of a specific form of Government adopted by many countries whose political systems have been inspired by the principle of democracy. As a consequence of this, one or more elected assemblies hold a leading position in their constitutional organization. Both the general report as well as the national reports address the current problems regarding parliamentarism, viz., the structure of Parliaments, the ways regulated and the delimitation of the functions of Parliament with the aim of maximizing its orientating function in the activity of its citizens through a constant updating of existing legislation.

Foreword by Randy E. BarnettIn 2012, the United States Supreme Court became the centre of the political world. In a dramatic and unexpected 5-4 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts voted on narrow grounds to save the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. Unprecedented tells the inside story of how the challenge to Obamacare raced across all three branches of government, and narrowly avoided a constitutional collision between the Supreme Court and President Obama. On November 13, 2009, a group of Federalist Society lawyers met in the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., to devise a legal challenge to the constitutionality of President Obama's legacy",his healthcare reform. It seemed a very long shot, and was dismissed peremptorily by the White House, much of Congress, most legal scholars, and all of the media. Two years later the fight to overturn the Affordable Care Act became a political and legal firestorm. When, finally, the Supreme Court announced its ruling, the judgment was so surprising that two cable news channels misreported it and announced that the Act had been declared unconstitutional. Unprecedented offers unrivaled inside access to how key decisions were made in Washington, based on interviews with over one hundred of the people who lived this journey,including the academics who began the challenge, the attorneys who litigated the case at all levels, and Obama administration attorneys who successfully defended the law. It reads like a political thriller, provides the definitive account of how the Supreme Court almost struck down President Obama's unprecedented" law, and explains what this decision means for the future of the Constitution, the limits on federal power, and the Supreme Court.

Based on empirical investigation and an interdisciplinary approach, this book offers a crucial theoretical work on China's basic-level judicial system and a masterpiece by Professor Suli Zhu, a prominent jurist on modern China. Its primary goal is to identify issues - ones that can only be effectively sensed and raised by China's jurists because of their unique circumstances and cultural background - that are of practical significance in China's basic-level judicial system, and of theoretical significance to juristic systems in general. Divided into four parts, the book begins with a discussion of the systematic and theoretical problems in China's basic-level judicial system at the macro-, meso- and micro- scale. In the second part, it examines the technology and knowledge to be found in the basic-level judicial system, so as to make the traditionally "invisible" technology and knowledge of trial judges available for general theoretical analyses. The third part focuses on the judge and other legal personnel in the judicial system, while the last part discusses the value of legal sociology surveys as powerful resources. This book not only presents essential features of China's judicial system by precisely describing key issues in its basic-level judicial system, but also offers well-founded content that accentuates the significance of social management innovation.

This volume presents a variety of both normative and descriptive perspectives on the use of precedent by the United States Supreme Court. It brings together a diverse group of American legal scholars, some of whom have been influenced by the Segal/Spaeth "attitudinal" model and some of whom have not. The group of contributors includes legal theorists and empiricists, constitutional lawyers and legal generalists, leading authorities and up-and-coming scholars. The book addresses questions such as how the Court establishes durable precedent, how the Court decides to overrule precedent, the effects of precedent on case selection, the scope of constitutional precedent, the influence of concurrences and dissents, and the normative foundations of constitutional precedent. Most of these questions have been addressed by the Court itself only obliquely, if at all. The volume will be valuable to readers both in the United States and abroad, particularly in light of ongoing debates over the role of precedent in civil-law nations and emerging legal systems.

For years the European Union has been looked on as a potential model for cosmopolitan governance, and enjoyed considerable influence on the global stage. The EU has a uniquely strong and legally binding mission statement to pursue international relations on a multilateral basis, founded on the progressive development of international law. The political vision was for the EU to export its values of the rule of law and sophisticated governance mechanisms to the international sphere. Globalization and the financial crisis have starkly illustrated the limits of this vision, and the EU's dependence on global forces partially beyond the control of traditional provinces of law. This book takes stock of the EU's role in global governance. It asks: to what extent can and does the EU shape and influence the on-going re-ordering of legal processes, principles, and institutions of global governance, in line with its optimistic mission statement? With this ambitious remit it covers the legal-institutional and substantive aspects of global security, trade, environmental, financial, and social governance. Across these topics 23 contributors have taken the central question of the extent of the EU's influence on global governance, providing a broad view across the key areas as well as a detailed analysis of each. Through comparison and direct engagement with each other, the different chapters provide a distinctive contribution to legal scholarship on global governance, from a European perspective.

In the last half century, the rule of law has increasingly been appealed to as a common global value. The Handbook on the Rule of Law analyses the appeal of this idea, its context, and background through a range of questions about the character, history and global reach of the rule of law, offering readers a definitive understanding of this central global norm. Original contributions from leading academics explore the rule of law conceptually and historically through its associated institutions, as well as examine detailed cases evaluating how the everyday application of the rule of law impacts society as a whole. Exploring a wide range of research on the social, political and economic dimensions of the rule of law, this Handbook clearly illustrates the link between the rule of law and the global political system. This informative Handbook will be key reading for post-graduate students of international relations, global politics, and law, as well as for legal scholars wanting to build upon their knowledge with a wider account of the rule of law. Researchers in areas impacted by the rule of law will also find this volume to be stimulating reading. Contributors include: J. Allison, T. Almeida Cravo, D. Banik, A. Bedner, P. Costa, C. Cutler, D.l. Desai, C. Feinaugle, J. Flood, T. Ginsburg, J. Gutmann, S. Hinderling, D. Howath, T. Kellogg, T. Krever, M. Krygier, A. Loretoni, F. Macaulay, A. Magen, C. May, J. Moller, P. Nicholson, L. Pech, M.M. Prado, M. Rishmawi, C. Schwoebel-Patel, L.B. Tiede, V. Vadi, S. Voigt, C. Walker, A. Wiener, A. Winchester, P. Zumbansen

With the specter of prosecution after his term is over and the possibility of disbarment in Arkansas hanging over President Clinton, the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal and the events that have followed it show no sign of abating. The question has become what to do, and how to think, about those eight months. Did the President lie or was it plausible that he had truthfully testified to no sexual relationship? Was the job search for Monica just help for a friend or a sinister means of obtaining silence? Even if all the charges were true, did impeachment follow or was censure enough? And what are the lasting repercussions on the office of the Presidency?

Aftermath: The Clinton Impeachment and the Presidency in the Age of Political Spectacle takes a multi-disciplinary approach to analyze the Clinton impeachment from political perspectives across the spectrum. The authors attempt to tease out the meanings of the scandal from the vantage point of law, religion, public opinion, and politics, both public and personal. Further, the impeachment itself is situated broadly within the contemporary American liberal state and mined for the contradictory possibilities for reconciliation it reveals in our culture.

Contributors: David T. Canon, John Cooper, Drucilla Cornell, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Robert W. Gordon, Lawrence Joseph, Leonard V. Kaplan, David Kennedy, Kenneth R. Mayer, Beverly I. Moran, Father Richard John Neuhaus, David Novak, Linda Denise Oakley, Elizabeth Rapaport, Lawrence Rosen, Eric Rothstein, Aviam Soifer, Lawrence M. Solan, Cass R. Sunstein, Stephen Toulmin, Leon Trakman, Frank Tuerkheimer, Mark V. Tushnet, Andrew D. Weiner, Robin L. West.

This book is intended to offer a constructive overview of the essential and most intriguing issues within the study of separation of powers. It is also designed to be a casebook from which an engaging course on the subject can be taught.Primarily through review and discussion of 39 carefully selected cases, the book covers topics such as the scope of Executive Branch power and privilege, Congressional authority and prerogatives, and the role of the courts in refereeing disputes between the political branches. The final two (of ten) chapters focus on the shared war power; its historical uses, abuses, and limits; and how the 21st century's War on Terror has occasioned greater judicial oversight on its exercise, particularly with respect to the treatment of enemy combatants.Many other cases are referenced to illustrate specific points, and other materials -- such as internal Executive Branch legal memos, congressional authorizations for the use of force, and selected Federalist Papers -- are used to provide context for the operation of separation of powers principles. Discussion and questions throughout the book challenge the reader to think critically about whether, in practice, the separation of powers framework set forth in the Constitution is playing out as the Framers intended. The reader is also asked to consider how separation of powers questions would be answered in hypothetical situations not yet addressed by the courts. About the AuthorAfter graduating from the University of Virginia School of Law, Thomas Beck spent 16 years practicing law in Washington, DC. He has appeared in federal and state trial courts throughout the United States and has argued several cases in the United States Courts of Appeals. In 2008, after being nominated by President George W. Bush and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate, he became Chairman of the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA). At the FLRA, he has participated in published decisions resolving nearly 500 legal disputes. He has taught courses on separation of powers and the legislative process at the George Mason University School of Law. As this book goes to print, he has been nominated by President Barack Obama to be a Member of the National Mediation Board and his nomination is pending in the Senate.

"Marcossen has written a good book. Its tone is appropriate, its arguments are provocative, and its subject matter is significant."--"The Law and Politics Book Review," Vol.12, No. 7

"Brilliantly dissecting Thomas' and his philosophical mentor Antonin Scalia's conservatism, Marcossen resembles a master debater delivering a crushing final summation."-- "Booklist," August 2002

"Without a doubt, this is one of the best pieces of constitutional law scholarship published in some time."
-- "Choice"

Originalism is the practice of reviewing constitutional cases by seeking to discern the framers' and ratifiers' intent. Original Sin argues that the "jurisprudence of original intent," represented on the current Supreme Court by Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, has failed on its own terms. Attempts to determine the framers' intent have not brought greater determinacy and legitimacy to the process of constitutional interpretation. Instead, the method has been marked by the very flaws--including self-interested reasoning and the manipulation of doctrine--that originalists argue marred the jurisprudence of the judicial "activists" of the Warren Court.

Original Sin brings a rigorous review of the performance of the "new originalists" to the debate, applying their methodology to real cases. Marcosson focuses on the judicial decisions of Clarence Thomas, an avowed originalist who nevertheless advocates "color blind" readings of the Constitution which are at odds with the framers' ideas concerning anti-miscegenation and other laws. After critiquing what he sees as a troubling use of originalism and explaining why it has failed to provide a consistent basis for constitutionaldecision-making, the author goes on to offer an alternative approach: one that lends greater legitimacy to the Court's interpretations of the Constitution.