Buy New

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
or
Amazon Prime Free Trial required. Sign up when you check out. Learn More
Buy Used
Used - Good See details
$5.11 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
War and Responsibility
 
 
Tell the Publisher!
I'd like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

War and Responsibility [Paperback]

John Hart Ely (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

Price: $35.00 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details
  Special Offers Available
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Want it delivered Monday, January 30? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
Textbook Student FREE Two-Day Shipping for Students. Learn more

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Hardcover --  
Paperback $20.00  
Paperback, March 6, 1995 $35.00  

Book Description

0691025525 978-0691025520 March 6, 1995 1St Edition

Twenty years after the signing of the Paris Accords, the constitutional ambiguities of American involvement in the Vietnam War remain unresolved. John Hart Ely examines the overall constitutionality of America's role in Vietnam; and shows that Congress authorized each new phase of American involvement without committing itself to the stated aims of intervention.



Special Offers and Product Promotions

  • Buy $50 in qualifying physical textbooks, get $5 in Amazon MP3 Credit. Here's how (restrictions apply)

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with The National Security Constitution: Sharing Power after the Iran-Contra Affair (Yale Fastback Series) $34.00

War and Responsibility + The National Security Constitution: Sharing Power after the Iran-Contra Affair (Yale Fastback Series)


Editorial Reviews

Review


[T]he most signal quality of this book is its shining integrity. Ely's patient, careful, but never tedious examination of Congress's role in the authorization of the Vietnam War is an inspiring antidote to the indulgent amnesia of so many who ought to know better. -- Philip Bobbitt, Michigan Law Review



John Hart Ely has done a remarkable job in taking a series of elegant and sophisticated legal arguments and presenting them in an unusually concise and readable form. More important, he has breathed new life into the War Powers Resolution with a handful of suggestions that could bring the war power back to where it was intended, the representatives of the people. -- Melvin Small, History: Reviews of New Books



In this short but compellingly reasoned book, John Hart Ely argues that the congressional effort to regain its constitutional power has essentially failed. . . . With clarity and sophistication, [he] walks us through a mine field of legal and political nuances. . . . Ely's fine book should be seen as part of a revival of scholarly commitment to the separation of powers and to the theory of governing that undergirds it. -- The Annals of the Academy of Political and Social Science



This is scholarship with a difference. . . . Now that this book exists, no one should engage in discussions about war and U.S. responsibility or the War Powers Act without having first consulted it. -- James Finn, Commonweal



In this splendid volume Ely gives us the mature, ripened intellectual fruit of at least a quarter century's thought and the reflection by a leading constitutional law scholar on [a] most divisive public issue. -- Daniel J. Kornstein, New York Law Journal

From the Back Cover


"In what is destined to become a classic, one of America's finest legal thinkers has brought much-needed new clarity to a perennial problem."--Laurence H. Tribe, Harvard Law School

"[T]he most signal quality of this book is its shining integrity. Ely's patient, careful, but never tedious examination of Congress's role in the authorization of the Vietnam War is an inspiring antidote to the indulgent amnesia of so many who ought to know better."--Philip Bobbitt, Michigan Law Review

"John Hart Ely ... is something of a marvel among law scholars: he writes readable, influential books about crucial issues of public policy.... [Ely] is convinced that the country would be more likely to avoid disastrous experiences of the Vietnam sort if the Constitution were made to work. "--Richard Falk, Princeton University

"There is no more detailed or tightly analyzed summary of recent uses of the war power. [War and Responsibility belongs on the bookshelf of anyone teaching about the presidency or concerned at the clash that sometimes exists between the power of the modern presidency and the tenets of American democracy."--Philippa Strum, Presidential Studies Quarterly

"Professor Ely has written a book of timely and tremendous importance. It makes a significant contribution to the hoped-for restoration of the historic constitutional balance between the legislative and executive branches."--Representative Ronald V. Dellums, Chairman, House Committee on Armed Services



Product Details

  • Paperback: 254 pages
  • Publisher: Princeton University Press; 1St Edition edition (March 6, 1995)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0691025525
  • ISBN-13: 978-0691025520
  • Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,957,892 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

 

Customer Reviews

1 Review
5 star:    (0)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Typical law professor's analysis of foreign affairs, May 12, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: War and Responsibility (Paperback)
Dean Ely has done a good job with this book. It contains, for the most part, a realistic analysis of who has power in foreign affairs, and why. Unfortunately, he overemphasizes the importance of text and cases in what is really a political process. For example, he claims on p. 5 that the president cannot start a war. Well, with a blinkered, textual analysis he's absolutely right. The problem is that presidents have started wars (the Mexican-American War being the first of a not-so-illustrious line of them). So Dean Ely's analysis is smacked in the face by real life.

Other specific problems in Dean Ely's book include: (1) on p. 9 he states "from childhood we Americans are programmed to fall in when the bugle sounds." What? What country is he living in? The country has not been militaristic since 1945, if then. The man has no idea what true militarism is. His comment obviously flows from an anti-military world view. (2) The U.S. was not in a "naval war" with Iran in 1987-1998, as Dean Ely claims on p. 49. Shelling an oil platform and shooting up a couple of speedboats hardly qualifies as a "war." Once again, the reader is left with the sense that Dean Ely's analysis is subject to a preconceived world view. (3) enlisted personnel do not have the "skepticism aboout superiors' orders" drilled out of them during basic training, as Dean Ely claims on p. 57. Having been an officer in the military myself, I can assure the potential reader that's not the case.

The problems noted above all stem from Dean Ely's own prejudices. I would give 5:1 odds that Dean Ely is a liberal democrat, who attended an East-Coast school sometime in the 1960s. His analysis fits that mold perfectly. So read this book, but remember that the author has not risen above his own particular biases.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Only search this product's reviews



Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
ONE of the recurrent discoveries of academic writing about constitutional law-an all but certain ticket to tenure-is that from the standpoint of twentieth-century observers, the "original understanding" of the document's framers and ratifiers can be obscure to the point of inscrutability. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
advance congressional authorization, combat authorization, congressional plaintiffs, imminent danger thereof, likelihood thereof, ground incursion, supra note, delegation doctrine, advance authorization, imminent involvement, specific statutory authorization, free world forces, military justification, secret bombing, imminent hostilities, equitable discretion, presidential war, congressional consideration, continued bombing, covert wars, seeking authorization
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, North Vietnamese, War Powers Resolution, Tonkin Gulf Resolution, South Vietnam, President Nixon, Fulbright Proviso, Air Force, Supreme Court, War Clause, Desert Storm, House of Representatives, Senator Fulbright, Lon Nol, Eagleton Amendment, Secretary of State, President Bush, President Johnson, State Department, World War, Judge Judd, Pathet Lao, Vang Pao, York Times, Cold War
New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:




Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
 

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums



So You'd Like to...


Create a guide


Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject