In Defense of the Text

Leslie Friedman Goldstein, Professor of Political Science at the University of Delaware, has written widely on constitutional issues, including The Constitutional Rights of Women.

...consistently engaging. The Journal Of Politics ...groundbreaking constitutional scholarship. Professor Goldstein combines the insight of the historian with the sophistication of a political theorist to present a splendid vindication of the American constitutional tradition. -- Jefferson Powell, Duke Law School ...she presents her theory in clear and vigorous prose that makes the book a pleasure to read. ^RIn Defense of the Text^I is quite simply the best single-volume introduction to the constitutional theory field now available. Law and Politics ...a splendidly innovative, exceptionally lucid, analysis and evaluation of the obligations of our written yet elastic Constitution, penned by one of our brightest, most sophisticated scholars, who approaches the gravamen of the judicial role with enviable comprehension and no nonsense. -- Henry J. Abraham, University of Virginia Goldstein's chapters have a straightforward foundation and give each subject a twist...Goldstein knows her subject. She writes...with insight...explains subtleties...with...care... Journal of American History ...a Must Read

• Introduction - why constitutional theory?; John Marshall and 20th century jurisprudence; paradoxes of Justice Black - text, history and structure; popular sovereignty, the origins of judicial review and the revival of unwritten law; judicial review and modern judicial scholarship - a qustion of power; judicial review and democratic theory - guardian democracy vs. representative democracy; indeterminacy and constitutional theory - a critique of CLS and company.