Why We Vote

Owen Fiss is Sterling Professor Emeritus of Law at Yale University. He clerked for Thurgood Marshall when he served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and later for William J. Brennan, Jr. on the Supreme Court. Fiss also served in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice from 1966 to 1968. He is the author of many books, including The Law As It Could Be, The Irony of Free Speech, and Pillars of Justice. In 2020, the American Philosophical Society awarded Fiss the Henry M. Phillips Prize for his lifetime achievement in jurisprudence.

Owen Fiss is the acknowledged master of purpose-driven constitutional interpretation. In this crucial book, he focuses on democracy itself, urging the courts to adopt a systemic approach to treating voting as the right at the core of our democratic Constitution. Why We Vote shows that Fiss's unique combination of moral vision and legal virtuosity is as essential, and as powerful, as ever.

• Series Editor's Foreword Introduction: Democracy as a Source of Freedom Chapter 1. The Constitutional Character of Our Democracy Chapter 2. Extending the Franchise Chapter 3. The Duty of Facilitation Chapter 4. The Equality of Votes Chapter 5. The Constraints of the Ballot Conclusion: Is the Law of Democracy Really Law? AcknowledgmentsNotesIndex