Constitutional Law for a Changing America: Short Course [Paperback]

Lee Epstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2004 | ISBN-10: 1568028903 | ISBN-13: 978-1568028903 | Edition: 3rd

Meeting the needs of professors who teach one-term courses --or for those teaching two terms who wish to assign other readings--this condensed, one-volume text spans the breadth of institutional powers and civil rights and liberties. So much more than a traditional casebook, this innovative text powerfully demonstrates that Supreme Court cases are more than just legal names and citations. The landmark cases analyzed and excerpted involve real people embroiled in real disputes whose cases have real political consequences. Epstein and Walker's emphasis on political context --arguments and input from lawyers and interest groups, justices' ideological and behavioral inclinations, elected officials' partisan positions, as well as public opinion --allows students to see the development of constitutional doctrine within its decidedly political environment.

For this new third edition, material has been thoroughly updated through the end of the 2003-2004 term of the Supreme Court, with coverage and analysis of terrorism, campaign finance reform, executive power, religious establishment, and regulation of the Internet.

Authored commentary, wrapped around the cases, helps students understand a particular case, as well as place it within the larger picture of an evolving and dynamic body of law. To assist students in evaluating alternative points of view, the authors have included excerpts of important concurring and dissenting opinions. Curious students will appreciate both the Aftermath boxes, which describe what happened to litigants after a ruling, and the Global Perspective boxes, which compare U.S. case law to similar rulings and tenets in foreign judicial systems. Epstein and Walker also include profiles of influential groups and justices, photographs of litigants, exhibits from cases, and lively descriptions of the events that led to the suits. Website addresses are included throughout, giving students easy access to the full text of opinions as well as to an audio recording of oral arguments when available.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lee Epstein is the Beatrice Kuhn Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University. She is also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Academy of Political and Social Science. She received her Ph.D. from Emory University. She is coauthor of The Supreme Court and Legal Change: Abortion and the Death Penalty (1992) with Joseph Kobylka; Advice and Consent: The Politics of Judicial Appointments (2005) with Jeffrey A. Segal; The Supreme Court Compendium: Data, Decisions, and Developments, 4th ed. (2007) with Segal, Harold J. Spaeth, and Thomas G. Walker; and The Choices Justices Make (1998) with Jack Knight, which won the C. Herman Pritchett Award for the best book on law and courts. In addition, she is coauthor, with Walter F. Murphy and C. Herman Pritchett of Courts, Judges and Politics, 6th ed. (2006).

Thomas G. Walker is Goodrich C. White Professor of Political Science at Emory University where he has won several teaching awards for his courses on constitutional law and the judicial process. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky. His book, A Court Divided, written with Deborah J. Barrow, won the prestigious V.O. Key Award for the best book on southern politics. He is the coauthor of The Supreme Court Compendium: Data, Decisions, and Developments, 4th ed. (2007) with Lee Epstein, Jeffrey A. Segal, and Harold J. Spaeth.

Product Details

• Paperback: 765 pages
• Publisher: CQ Press; 3rd edition (October 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568028903
• ISBN-13: 978-1568028903
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,175,706 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lee Epstein is the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor of Political Science and Professor of Law at Washington University and a Fellow of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. She has authored, co-authored, or edited over seventy articles and essays and thirteen books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Beginners Guide, December 8, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Constitutional Law for a Changing America: A Short Course (Paperback)

Overall this is a very good book to read if you are wanting a basic level of knowledge. It effectively presents a great deal of cases in a well structured layout. However, it is not for law students so much as undergrad. The level of analysis is usually kept on the basic side. Before each case there is usually historical backgrounds leading up to actual case. This helps the reader to have an idea of what the issues before the Court were in that particular case. In closing, I think this book does a great job of showing that there is more to decision making in the Courts than just the legal issues.

4.0 out of 5 stars To long to be ship, November 7, 2010

By 

jzapat - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Constitutional Law For A Changing America: A Short Course, 4th Edition Text (Paperback)

It took to long to get to my house

but the item is good

I do not have any problem with it and it is almost new

0 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars College Book, January 18, 2007

By 

Stephanie H. Osborne "sho" (Flora, Il USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Constitutional Law for a Changing America: Short Course (Paperback)

I haven't received this book yet, it is for a college class,and I needed it 01-17-07, butI have yet to receive the book. A littler speedier shipping would be great.