The United States Constitution : one document, many choices Cover Image

Book

The United States Constitution : one document, many choices / John R. Vile.

Summary:

"The U.S. Constitution: One Document, Many Choices is designed to provide an understanding of the document both by explaining its origins in Western political thought and by describing the institutions it created. It further compares these institutions to possible alternatives (e.g., how Congress differs from a Parliament, the President differs from a monarch, and the Supreme Court differs from a bevy of Platonic Guardians). The text explains that institutions within the national government and the division of powers between the nation and the states were designed, like limits of governmental power in the Bill of Rights and other amendments, to protect liberty. The volume is particularly suitable for students who are examining the Constitution for the first time, and it focused only on key Supreme Court decisions that have interpreted the Document. "-- Provided by publisher.

"This book explains the U.S. Constitution by focusing on its origins in Western political thought and its organization and subsequent amendments. It describes the document as a series of choices among alternative governmental institutions that are designed to provide national security and secure ordered liberty"-- Provided by publisher.

Record details

ISBN: 9781137513496 (hbk.)
ISBN: 1137513497 (hbk.)
Physical Description: xi, 203 pages ; 23 cm
Publisher: New York, NY : Palgrave Macmillan, [2015]

Content descriptions

Formatted Contents Note:

1. Institutional Choices and the Preamble: It's a Real-World Document, Not a Utopian Blueprint -- 2. The Legislative Branch: It's a Congress, Not a Parliament -- 3. The Executive Branch: It's Headed by an Accountable Elected Official, Not a King or a Dictator -- 4. The Judicial Branch: It's a Group of Lawyers, Not Platonic Guardians -- 5. The Nation and the States: The Arrangement is Federal, Not Confederal or Unitary -- 6. The Constitutional Amending Process: It's Difficult because It's Designed to Preserve the Constitution as Fundamental Law -- 7. The Bill of Rights, and Freedom of Belief and Expression: They Provide for Liberty, Not License -- 8. The Bill of Rights, the Right to Security, and the Rights of the Accused and the Convicted: They Protect the Guilty in Order to Protect the Innocent -- 9. Equality and the Thirteenth through Fifteenth Amendments: It's an Equality of Opportunity, Not a Guarantee of Equal Results -- 10. Postscript: A Time for Reflection.