Book picks similar to
Comparative Constitutionalism in South Asia by Sunil Khilnani
political-science
south-asia
comparative-studies
constitution
Our Undemocratic Constitution: Where the Constitution Goes Wrong (and How We the People Can Correct It)
Sanford Levinson - 2006
Yet this is a document that regularly places in the White House candidates who did not in fact get a majority of the popular vote. It gives Wyoming the same number of votes as California, which has seventy times the population of the Cowboy State. And it offers the President the power to overrule both houses of Congress on legislation he disagrees with on political grounds. Is this a recipe for a republic that reflects the needs and wants of today's Americans?Taking a hard look at our much-venerated Constitution, Sanford Levinson here argues that too many of its provisions promote either unjust or ineffective government. Under the existing blueprint, we can neither rid ourselves of incompetent presidents nor assure continuity of government following catastrophic attacks. Less important, perhaps, but certainly problematic, is the appointment of Supreme Court judges for life. Adding insult to injury, the United States Constitution is the most difficult to amend or update of any constitution currently existing in the world today.Democratic debate leaves few stones unturned, but we tend to take our basic constitutional structures for granted. Levinson boldly challenges the American people to undertake a long overdue public discussion on how they might best reform this most hallowed document and construct a constitution adequate to our democratic values.
The Federalist: The Gideon Edition
George W. Carey - 1818
Written and published in newspapers in 1787 and 1788 to explain and promote ratification of the proposed Constitution for the United States, which were then bound by the Articles of Confederation, The Federalist remains of singular importance to students of liberty around the world.George W. Carey was Professor of Government at Georgetown University and editor of The Political Science Reviewer.James McClellan (1937–2005) was James Bryce Visiting Fellow in American Studies at the Institute of United States Studies, University of London.Please note: This title is available as an ebook for purchase on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iTunes.
Four Threats: The Recurring Crises of American Democracy
Suzanne Mettler - 2020
"An important work of scholarship that should be read by anyone concerned with America’s future." --Fareed Zakaria, author of The Post-American World
The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates
Ralph Louis Ketcham - 1986
Edited and introduced by Ralph Ketcham.
Constitutional Law and Politics, Volume 2
David M. O'Brien - 2002
This comprehensive text presents a wide range of excerpts and opinions from the most significant Supreme Court cases and provides the contextual material students need to interpret their historical significance. The Sixth Edition adds material on dozens of important recent cases, current through June 2004, and features carefully updated and refined pedagogy.Author Biography: David M. O'Brien is Leone Reaves and George W. Spicer Professor of Government and Foreign Affairs at the University of Virginia, where he teaches the popular constitutional law course on which his book Constitutional Law and Politics (now in its Sixth Edition) is based. Professor O'Brien is a regular commentator on the Supreme Court's activities and rulings. He is the author of over fifteen books and regularly contributes op-ed pieces on the Court to the Los Angeles Times.
Life After Life: A Guildford Four Memoir
Paddy Armstrong - 2017
The truth is, I've lived three very different lives: the one before prison; the one in prison; and my life since then. It has taken years to make sense of it all, but now I've found a voice to speak about it.Paddy Armstrong was one of four people falsely convicted of The Guildford Bombing in 1975. He spent fifteen years in prison for a crime he did not commit.Today, as a husband and father, life is wonderfully ordinary, but the memory of his ordeal lives on. Here, for the first time and with unflinching candour, he lays bare the experiences of those years and their aftermath.Life after Life is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of forgiveness. It reminds us of the privilege of freedom, and how the balm of love, family and everyday life can restore us and mend the scars of even the most savage injustice.'This book captures the sweet soul of Paddy. Beautifully written. For lovers of freedom everywhere.' Jim Sheridan
Everything I do..
Suvika - 2015
A boy. A heir. To carry the family name and the company forward into the future. Instead I got you! Two daughters. Fit for nothing except to marry someone and walk away.”Kajal Rathore had walked out of her home and her father after that confrontation, making a life and living it on her own terms. Away from the archaic chauvinism that made her father reject her because she was not the son he wanted. Now her father’s flailing health has brought her back to her home. And to the company that had been in her family for generations. Once Kajal had had a dream of becoming a part of that company and now fates were handing over that dream. But to claim it, she will have to confront the father who denies her, the mother who never stood up for her, the sister who needs her and the man who wants her. “I want you to marry Kajal. I don’t..I can’t trust her with Rathore Industries. But I don’t have a choice. But if you are beside her, I would never have to worry. Marry her and the company would be yours.”Arjun Shekhawat was deeply indebted to his boss. The man who had been his godfather and his mentor. Refusing him was not on cards. Even when it was something as personal as marriage. After all, it was a win-win situation. But keeping the promise meant getting close to his boss’s daughter. Close enough to win her trust, to appreciate the person that she was and the secrets that surrounded her. Close enough to fall in love with her. And to realize that he had unwittingly agreed to become the weapon that would one day be used against her.
Zumbar
Prakash Narayan Sant - 2003
The book is a last in its series started from Vanvas.
The Debate on the Constitution, Part 1: Federalist and Anti-Federalist Speeches, Articles, and Letters During the Struggle over Ratification: September 1787 to February 1788
Bernard BailynJoseph Barrell - 1993
Instead of revising the Articles of Confederation, the framers had created a fundamentally new national plan that placed over the states a supreme government with broad powers. They proposed to submit it to conventions in each state, elected “by the People thereof,” for ratification.Immediately, a fierce storm of argument broke. Federalist supporters, Antifederalist opponents, and seekers of a middle ground strove to balance public order and personal liberty as they praised, condemned, challenged, and analyzed the new Constitution.Assembled here in chronological order are hundreds of newspaper articles, pamphlets, speeches, and private letters written or delivered in the aftermath of the Constitutional Convention. Along with familiar figures like Franklin, Madison, Patrick Henry, Jefferson, and Washington, scores of less famous citizens are represented, all speaking clearly and passionately about government. The most famous writings of the ratification struggle—the Federalist essays of Hamilton and Madison—are placed in their original context, alongside the arguments of able antagonists, such as “Brutus” and the “Federal Farmer.”Part One includes press polemics and private commentaries from September 1787 to January 1788. That autumn, powerful arguments were made against the new charter by Virginian George Mason and the still-unidentified “Federal Farmer,” while in New York newspapers, the Federalist essays initiated a brilliant defense. Dozens of speeches from the state ratifying conventions show how the “draft of a plan, nothing but a dead letter,” in Madison’s words, had “life and validity…breathed into it by the voice of the people.” Included are the conventions in Pennsylvania, where James Wilson confronted the democratic skepticism of those representing the western frontier, and in Massachusetts, where John Hancock and Samuel Adams forged a crucial compromise that saved the country from years of political convulsion.Informative notes, biographical profiles of all writers, speakers, and recipients, and a detailed chronology of relevant events from 1774 to 1804 provide fascinating background. A general index allows readers to follow specific topics, and an appendix includes the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution (with all amendments).
The Dirty Dozen: How Twelve Supreme Court Cases Radically Expanded Government and Eroded Freedom
Robert A. Levy - 2008
In The Dirty Dozen, two distinguished legal scholars shed light on the twelve worst cases, which allowed government to interfere in your private contractual agreements; curtail your right to criticize or support political candidates; arrest and imprison you indefinitely, without filing charges; seize your private property, without compensation, when someone uses the property for criminal activity-even if you don't know about it.
The Forgotten Presidents: Their Untold Constitutional Legacy
Michael J. Gerhardt - 2013
They conjure up not the White House so much as a decaying middle school somewhere in New Jersey. But many forgotten presidents, writes Michael J. Gerhardt, were not weak or ineffective. They boldly fought battles over constitutional principles that resonate today.Gerhardt, one of our leading legal experts, tells the story of The Forgotten Presidents. He surveys thirteen administrations in chronological order, from Martin Van Buren to Franklin Pierce to Jimmy Carter, distinguishing political failures from their constitutional impact. Again and again, he writes, they defied popular opinion to take strong stands. Martin Van Buren reacted to an economic depression by withdrawing federal funds from state banks in an attempt to establish the controversial independent treasury system. His objective was to shrink the federal role in the economy, but also to consolidate his power to act independently as president. Prosperity did not return, and he left office under the shadow of failure. Grover Cleveland radically changed his approach in his second (non-consecutive) term. Previously he had held back from interference with lawmakers; on his return to office, he aggressively used presidential power to bend Congress to his will. Now seen as an asterisk, Cleveland consolidated presidential authority over appointments, removals, vetoes, foreign affairs, legislation, and more. Jimmy Carter, too, proves surprisingly significant. In two debt-ceiling crises and battles over the Panama Canal treaty, affirmative action, and the First Amendment, he demonstrated how the presidency's inherent capacity for efficiency and energy gives it an advantage in battles with Congress, regardless of popularity.Incisive, myth-shattering, and compellingly written, this book shows how even obscure presidents championed the White House's prerogatives and altered the way we interpret the Constitution.
A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution
Carol Berkin - 2002
The group of men who travelled to Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 had no idea what kind of history their meeting would make. But all their ideas, arguments, and compromises—from the creation of the Constitution itself, article by article, to the insistence that it remain a living, evolving document—laid the foundation for a government that has surpassed the founders' greatest hopes. Revisiting all the original historical documents of the period and drawing from her deep knowledge of eighteenth-century politics, Carol Berkin opens up the hearts and minds of America's founders, revealing the issues they faced, the times they lived in, and their humble expectations of success.
The Aayakudi Murders
Indra Soundar Rajan - 2019
When he first arrives in Aayakudi to investigate a curious tip about a ghost, the place seems like an ordinary, traditional farming village. Soon, though, Rajendran finds himself entangled in a head-spinning mystery involving ancient treasure, spirit possession, and a series of grisly killings. There's also the beautiful, troubled daughter of the village panchayat president... and the notorious evil sorcerer who wants her dead. Indra Soundar Rajan, one of the stalwarts of the Tamil pulp fiction scene, has been writing his unique brand of supernatural mystery thrillers for over 30 years. He's also known for his television screenplays, such as the long-running superhit serial Marmadesam (Land of Mystery). He lives in Madurai.
The Making of America: The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution
W. Cleon Skousen - 1985
This has resulted in some of their most unique contributions for a free and prosperous society becoming lost or misunderstood. Therefore, there has been a need to review the history and development of the making of America in order to recapture the brilliant precepts which made Americans the first free people in modern times.The Making of America provides a wealth of material on the Founding Father's intentions when drafting the American Constitution. It is one of the most thorough compilations of statements by the Framers relating to constitutional interpretation, and addresses the Constitution clause by clause -- providing resources on the Founder's intent of each clause. The National Center for Constitutional Studies, a nonprofit educational foundation, was created in order to revive those original American concepts in all of their initial brilliance and vitality. The very fact that many of them are becoming obscure and misunderstood emphasizes the urgency of the task. The study for The Making of America extended over a period of nearly 40 years, and an organized effort to present this information in a published text was a concerted endeavor of nearly 14 years.It will be observed that many new insights are provided in the writings of the Founders for the solution to serious economic, political and social problems plaguing the world today. It is felt that a study of The Making of America can be of lasting value to all who have a serious concern for the general welfare of not only America but all mankind.
Constitutional Law
Geoffrey R. Stone - 1986
Longtime users will recognize these distinctive characteristics of the casebook: - multi-disciplinary approach that utilizes a variety of critical and social perspectives to explore constitutional law - extensive textual summaries of the state of the law and its development - comprehensive book ideal for a two-semester course - clear and concise coverage of First Amendment law The Fifth Edition reflects recent developments and class experience: - issues of constitutional obligation and constitutionalism in times of crisis incorporated into the opening chapter - reorganization of materials on the powers of Congress, with the materials on other powers of congress separated into a new Chapter 3 - completely updated chapter on the Distribution of National Powers, with new material growing out of the war on terrorism and its implications for free speech, immigration, naturalization, privacy, and due process, as well as enemy combatant controversies - notes are shortened, simplified, and thoroughly updated