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Joseph Lieberman's Vice Presidential nomination and Presidential
candidacy are neither the first nor last words on signal Jewish
achievements in American politics. Jews have played an important
role in American government since the early 1800s at least, and in
view of the 2004 election, there is no political office outside the
reach of Jewish American citizens. For the first time, Jews in
American Politics: Essays brings together a complete picture of the
past, present, and future of Jewish political participation.
Perfect for students and scholars alike, this monumental work
includes thoughtful and original chapters by leading journalists,
scholars, and practitioners. Topics range from Jewish leadership
and identity; to Jews in Congress, on the Supreme Court, and in
presidential administrations; and on to Jewish influence in the
media, the lobbies, and in other arenas in which American
government operates powerfully, if informally. In addition to the
thematically unified essays, Jews in American Politics: Essays
concludes with an invaluable roster of Jews in key governmental
positions from Ambassadorships and Cabinet posts to federal judges,
state governors, and mayors of major cities. Both analytical and
anecdotal, the essays in Jews in American Politics offer deep
insight into serious questions about the dilemmas that Jews in
public service face, as well as humorous sidelights and
authoritative reference materials never before collected in one
source. The story of the rich tradition of Jewish participation in
American political life provides an indispensable resource for any
serious follower of American politics, especially in election year
2004.
God deserves obedience simply because he's God-or does he? Inspired
by a passion for biblical as well as constitutional scholarship, in
this bold exploration Yale Law Professor Robert A. Burt
conceptualizes the political theory of the Hebrew and Christian
Bibles. God's authority as expressed in these accounts is not a
given. It is no less inherently problematic and in need of
justification than the legitimacy of secular government. In
recounting the rich narratives of key biblical figures-from Adam
and Eve to Noah, Cain, Abraham, Moses, Job, and Jesus-In the
Whirlwind paints a surprising picture of the ambivalent, mutually
dependent relationship between God and his peoples. Taking the
Hebrew and Christian Bibles as a unified whole, Burt traces God's
relationship with humanity as it evolves from complete harmony at
the outset to continual struggle. In almost every case, God insists
on unconditional obedience, while humanity withholds submission and
holds God accountable for his promises. Contemporary political
theory aims for perfect justice. The Bible, Burt shows, does not
make this assumption. Justice in the biblical account is an
imperfect process grounded in human-and divine-limitation. Burt
suggests that we consider the lessons of this tension as we try to
negotiate the power struggles within secular governments, and also
the conflicts roiling our public and private lives.
An impassioned argument for the role of courts as a moral and
social agent for change and protecting the vulnerable The Supreme
Court long considered its highest mission to be the protection of
individual liberty from intrusion by government, but the court
shifted its focus to social and economic equality. Constitutional
scholar Robert A. Burt explores this shift and its implications,
especially for the legal protection of the vulnerable. Crucial to
Burt's perspective is his unconventional view of the role of
judges-not simply to decide disputes, but to promote a respectful
dialogue leading to a genuine understanding between parties.
The American culture of death changed radically in the 1970s. For
terminal illnesses, hidden decisions by physicians were rejected in
favor of rational self-control by patients asserting their 'right
to die' - initially by refusing medical treatment and more recently
by physician-assisted suicide. This new claim rested on two
seemingly irrefutable propositions: first, that death can be a
positive good for individuals whose suffering has become
intolerable; and second, that death is an inevitable and therefore
morally neutral biological event. "Death Is That Man Taking Names"
suggests, however, that a contrary attitude persists in our culture
- that death is inherently evil, not just in practical but also in
moral terms. The new ethos of rational self-control cannot refute
but can only unsuccessfully try to suppress this contrary attitude.
The inevitable failure of this suppressive effort provokes
ambivalence and clouds rational judgment in many people's minds and
paradoxically leads to inflictions of terrible suffering on
terminally ill people. Judicial reforms in the 1970s of abortion
and capital punishment were driven by similarly high valuations of
rationality and public decision-making - rejecting physician
control over abortion in favor of individual self-control by
pregnant women and subjecting unsupervised jury decisions for
capital punishment to supposed rationally guided supervision by
judges. These reforms also attempt to suppress persistently
ambivalent attitudes toward death, and are therefore prone to
inflicting unjustified suffering on pregnant women and
death-sentenced prisoners. In this profound and subtle account of
psychological and social forces underlying American cultural
attitudes toward death, Robert A. Burt maintains that
unacknowledged ambivalence is likely to undermine the beneficent
goals of post-1970s reforms and harm the very people these changes
were intended to help.
In a remarkably innovative reconstruction of constitutional
history, Robert Burt traces the controversy over judicial supremacy
back to the founding fathers. Also drawing extensively on Lincoln's
conception of political equality, Burt argues convincingly that
judicial supremacy and majority rule are both inconsistent with the
egalitarian democratic ideal. The first fully articulated
presentation of the Constitution as a communally interpreted
document in which the Supreme Court plays an important but not
predominant role, "The Constitution in Conflict" has dramatic
implications for both the theory and the practice of constitutional
law.
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