Constitutional Law for a Changing America: Institutional Powers and Constraints

by Lee J. Epstein

Should a president be immune from civil lawsuits? Can the federal government force local governments to enforce the Brady bill gun control law? This text analyzes the institutional authority of government as it is interpreted in important Court decisions, including nation-state relations and economic liberties.

Genres: Law, Politics, Reference, Nonfiction, History, Textbooks

684 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Anthony Zupancic]

It's a good collection of cases, organized thematically, for an undergrad constitutional law class.

[Jasper]

Perhaps one of Epstein's worst works. A complete slog, the author seems to be fixated on ancient, irrelevant jurisprudence that isn't even precedent anymore. All this is done for an indeterminate purpose, but I can only assume it's done with the (obviously failed) goal of providing the reader with a well-rounded analysis of ConLaw.

It does a mediocre (at best) job of presenting contemporary cases. All the case examples seem to meld into each other, and it truly is difficult to distill each case down to it's bare essentials (that is, why the case is pertinent to the topics being explored). Rather than summarizing and dissecting key elements, Epstein frontloads entire opinions in the middle of chapters for the reader's displeasure.

Perhaps when Epstein publishes his 13th edition of this $85.00 waste of paper, he will be so kind as to just tell us directly why we should give a shit about the dozens of pages of opinion and dissent, without the pretentious claptrap.

[Jacob]

Pretty good for an undergraduate Con Law book.

[Mike]

This is a textbook, but I thought that it was a very good one if you have any interest in the topic. The book mixes case law review and interpretation in a very symbiotic way.

[Jim Twombly]

A very good, thorough text on the basics of Con Law - the institutional foundations.