A New Introduction to American Constitutionalism

Mark A. Graber is Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development and Professor of Law and Government at the Universirty of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. He is the author of Rethinking Abortion (Princeton, 1996), Dred Scott and the Problem of Constitutional Evil (Cambridge, 2006), and, with Howard Gillman and Keith Whittington, American Constitutionalism, Volumes I and II (Oxford, 2012).

"Graber's careful organization of his material provides a foundation in political theory that lends context to discussions of specific constitutional issues. [T]his book makes a valuable contribution to the study of American constitutionalism." -Robert N. Clark, Law Library Journal

• Preface ; 1. Introduction to American Constitutionalism ; A. Basic Constitutional Questions ; B. Identifying Basic Constitutional Questions ; C. Thinking About Basic Constitutional Questions ; 2. What is a Constitution? ; A. Classical Constitutionalism ; B. Modern Constitutionalism ; C. Contemporary Constitutionalism ; 3. Constitutional Purposes ; A. Constitutionalism and Democracy: The Dead Hand Problem ; B. Basic Constitutional Purposes ; C. American Constitutional Purposes ; D. The Virtues and Vices of Constitutionalism ; 4. Constitutional Interpretation ; A. The Living Constitution and Its Discontents ; B. Constitutional Arguments ; C. Constitutional Interpretation and Constitutional Purposes ; D. The Politics of Constitutional Argument ; 5. Constitutional Authority ; A. The Counter-Majoritarian Difficulty, Judicial Activism and Judicial Restraint ; B. Allocating Constitutional Authority ; C. Sharing Constitutional Authority ; D. The Politics of Shared Constitutional Authority ; E. Shared Constitutional Authority as Politics, Law, and Constitutionalism ; F. The Politics of Constitutional Argument ; 6. Constitutional Change ; A. Formal Constitutional Change ; B. Semi-Formal Constitutional Change ; C. Informal Constitutional Change ; D. The Law and Politics of Constitutional Change ; 7. American Constitutionalism in Global Perspective ; A. Foreign Policy: Two Constitutions? ; B. Comparative Constitutionalism: Universal or Particular ; C. A Higher Law? International Law and the Constitution ; D. The Particular and Universal Revisited ; 8. How Constitutions Work ; A. Of Cheeseburgers and Constitutions ; B. Constitutions as Constraining Politics ; C. Constitutions as Constructing Politics ; D. Constitutions as Constituting Politics ; E. The Self-Enforcing Constitution ; F. When Constitutions Do Not Work ; G. One Last Crisis