Professor Dickson has used the conference notes of Justices Brennan, Burton, Clark, Douglas, and to a lesser degree Frankfurter and Jackson to compile a list of conference notes for more than two hundred landmark cases from 1945- 1985. He has transcribed and heavily annotated notes to make them more accessible and meaningful to readers. The project draws out some of the patterns, tendencies, and personalities of the conference and answers some of the questions long asked about the Court: Do the Justices bargain with each other for votes? How do Chief Justices manipulate the conference and control opinion assignments? Do Justices come into the conference with their minds already made up? Who takes a leadership role in conference and with which cases? Who are the crucial swing votes?

The People's Government is premised on the idea that democracy is based on two fundamental rights: freedom and liberty. Many believe these rights are synonymous, but they are actually complementary opposites. Liberty is the right to be left alone, while freedom is the right to participate in a political community. How people view democracy depends on which of these two rights they think is more important. Liberal democrats place a higher value on liberty, while free democrats see freedom as the primary right. From this starting point, the author adds five dimensions to define and distinguish democratic societies: rights, participation and representation, inclusion, equality, and power. Liberal democracies emphasize individualism, negative rights, representative government, inclusive citizenship, equal opportunity, and limited government. Free democracies stress community, positive rights, direct participation, exclusive citizenship, equal outcomes, and robust government. The book examines the most important arguments for and against democracy, and explores the life cycle of democracies how countries democratize, mature, and fail. Finally, the author uses the five dimensions established earlier to evaluate and grade American democracy."

The People's Government is premised on the idea that democracy is based on two fundamental rights: freedom and liberty. Many believe these rights are synonymous, but they are actually complementary opposites. Liberty is the right to be left alone, while freedom is the right to participate in a political community. How people view democracy depends on which of these two rights they think is more important. Liberal democrats place a higher value on liberty, while free democrats see freedom as the primary right. From this starting point, the author adds five dimensions to define and distinguish democratic societies: rights, participation and representation, inclusion, equality, and power. Liberal democracies emphasize individualism, negative rights, representative government, inclusive citizenship, equal opportunity, and limited government. Free democracies stress community, positive rights, direct participation, exclusive citizenship, equal outcomes, and robust government. The book examines the most important arguments for and against democracy, and explores the life cycle of democracies how countries democratize, mature, and fail. Finally, the author uses the five dimensions established earlier to evaluate and grade American democracy."