Responding to Imperfection: The Theory and Practice of Constitutional AmendmentSanford Levinson An increasing number of constitutional theorists, within both the legal academy and university departments of government, are focusing on the conceptual and political problems attached to the notion of constitutional amendment. Amendments are, among other things, recognitions of the imperfection of existing schemes of government. The relative ease or difficulty of amendment has significant implications for the ways that governments respond to problems that call either for new structures of governance or new powers for already established structures. This book brings together essays by leading legal authorities and political scientists on a range of questions from whether the U.S. Constitution is subject to amendment by procedures other than those authorized by Article V to how significant change is conceptualized within classical rabbinic Judaism. Though the essays are concerned for the most part with the American experience, other constitutional traditions are considered as well. |
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... Amar 89 Six The Plain Meaning of Article V David R. Dow 117 Seven Amending the Presuppositions of a Constitution Frederick Schauer 145 Eight Merlin's Memory: The Past and Future Imperfect of the Once and Future Polity Walter F. Murphy ...
... Amar also presses the case that Article V is by no means ex- clusive. Instead, he argues, the very meaning of popular sovereignty— captured by the first three words of the Constitution's preamble, “We the People”—entails the possibility ...
... Amar, Jack Balkin, Scot Powe, Fred Schauer, and Jeffrey Tulis. 1 William Rehnquist, “The Notion of a Living Constitution,” Texas Law Review 54 (1970): 693. 2 Missouri v. Holland, 252 U.S. 416, 433 (1920). 3 347 U.S. 483 ( 1954 ) . 4 See.
... Amar has suggested , there may be a good political reason : the “ bundling " of the compensation clause , which apparently only James Madison thought particularly important , with other provisions much more popular by definition meant ...
... Amar has noted the importance that James Madison placed on the inclusion of " fundamental maxims of free government " within the constitutional text as a means of popular education.49 Hamil- ton rather acerbically dismissed such ...
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Responding to Imperfection: The Theory and Practice of Constitutional Amendment Sanford Levinson No preview available - 1995 |
Responding to Imperfection: The Theory and Practice of Constitutional Amendment Sanford Levinson No preview available - 1995 |