George Liebmann - Böcker

The Little Platoons examines sub-local government—the small-scale structures of civil society that lie between the individual and large governmental actors—in England, France, Germany, the United States, Russia, China, and Japan. The work examines community councils, educational districts, neighborhood organizations, and the like, as seen in various societies in the modern age. And, in identifying common attributes of these civil and societal organizations, the work has particular relevance—and indeed makes ameliorative recommendations—for the problems of our modern cities. In a period of dissatisfaction with a self-regarding and centralized political class and with both market and bureaucratic institutions, Liebmann's thoughtful analysis of community and civil organization in a variety of societies and traditions broadens our understanding of comparative politics and sociology, urban planning, and state and local government.

Writing of the France of the 1930s, the late Simone Weil declared, The state has morally killed everything smaller than itself. Liebmann asserts that a comparable development has recently taken place in the United States, fostering civic apathy and an inability to address serious social problems, and that, not for the first time, abuse of judicial review has caused the Constitution to be used as a tool of class interests. After a general survey of these consequences, Liebmann discusses the original constitutional debates and understanding. He then assesses First Amendment doctrine, through a discussion of the views of Harry Kalven, the most influential modern commentator on free speech issues, and then discusses the appropriate relationship of constitutional restraints to governmental fostering of public policy, on zoning, education, law enforcement, urban renewal, day care, traffic regulation, and care of the elderly, and illustrates the hopeful developments that are possible if judicial restraint is restored. A significant analysis for all scholars and researchers in the areas of constitutional law and current American public policy and politics.

Solving Problems Without Large Government circumvents sterile discussions of federalism and privatization by discussing the potential role of sub-local government-assisted entities in providing effective and fair access to services. Some readers will be astonished at the numerous examples of vital social functions which have already been handled at this level, in a variety of societies throughout history. The proper use of small institutions, Liebmann argues, can actually serve to foster greater economic equity and political power.

Two conflicting developments have recently characterized civic life in the United States. The first, the centralization of formal agencies of government, too often leads to diminishing political liberties and tyranny. The second, which is characterized by a greater amount of civic participation and individual self-actualization, is the formation of a whole new layer of sublocal institutions, both public and private. These include residential community and condominium associations; property owner-based business improvement districts in nearly all major cities; neighborhood improvement districts in large cities; and even self-governing public schools. Neighborhood Futures is a realistic exploration of how, for a society to move forward and improve, its citizens must exercise the power to act creatively, and feel they are both competent and responsible individuals. Supporting his ideas with the Dutch innovation of the woonerf, or neighborhood street government, Liebmann follows through by discussing other foreign models of civic life forms and illustrating how they have resulted in resident satisfaction. George W. Liebmann is a partner of Liebmann & Shively, P.A., a Baltimore law firm that specializes in local government and education law. In addition to having served as a top aide to one of Maryland's governors, he is a former faculty associate of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, and is the author of Little Platoons and The Gallows in the Grove.

Two conflicting developments have recently characterized civic life in the United States. The first, the centralization of formal agencies of government, too often leads to diminishing political liberties and tyranny. The second, which is characterized by a greater amount of civic participation and individual self-actualization, is the formation of a whole new layer of sublocal institutions, both public and private. These include residential community and condominium associations; property owner-based business improvement districts in nearly all major cities; neighborhood improvement districts in large cities; and even self-governing public schools. Neighborhood Futures is a realistic exploration of how, for a society to move forward and improve, its citizens must exercise the power to act creatively, and feel they are both competent and responsible individuals. Supporting his ideas with the Dutch innovation of the woonerf, or neighborhood street government, Liebmann follows through by discussing other foreign models of civic life forms and illustrating how they have resulted in resident satisfaction. George W. Liebmann is a partner of Liebmann & Shively, P.A., a Baltimore law firm that specializes in local government and education law. In addition to having served as a top aide to one of Maryland's governors, he is a former faculty associate of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, and is the author of Little Platoons and The Gallows in the Grove.

This book commemorates a place and a time in American law teaching, but more importantly, an outlook: the common law tradition. That outlook was empirical and tolerant. These values were carried into expression by a group of people who were not part of a cult or faction nor ruled by the herd instinct. Now in paperback, The Common Law Tradition is a collective portrait of five scholars who epitomize the tradition.The focus is Chicago in the 1960s. The five figures considered--Edward H. Levi, Harry Kalven, Jr., Karl Llewellyn, Philip Kurland, and Kenneth Culp Davis--did much to broaden the perspectives of the legal academy. Levi made use of sociology, economics, and comparative law. Kalven collaborated with sociologists on the Jury Project and with economists on tax law and auto compensation plans. Llewellyn's commitment to empirical research underpinned his work on the Uniform Commercial Code. Kurland's approach to constitutional law was highlighted by his insistence on the relevance of legal history. Davis was an energetic comparativist in his work on administrative law. What distinguished these Chicagoans is that their work was practical and rooted in the law, and hence yielded concrete applications. The group's diversity, the tolerant atmosphere in which they taught and wrote, and the attachment of its individual members to empirical approaches differentiate them from today's legal scholars and make their ideas of continuing importance.