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by: Erwin Chemerinsky
List Price: $19.95Amazon.com's Price: $13.57 You Save: $6.38 (32%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 342.73042
EAN: 9780804751995
ISBN: 0804751994
Label: Stanford Law Books
Manufacturer: Stanford Law Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 312
Publication Date: May 22, 2008
Publisher: Stanford Law Books
Release Date: May 23, 2008
Sales Rank: 275188
Studio: Stanford Law Books
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Product Description:
Federalism—the division of power between national and state governments—has been a divisive issue throughout American history. Conservatives argued in support of federalism and states' rights to oppose the end of slavery, the New Deal, and desegregation. In the 1990s, the Rehnquist Court used federalism to strike down numerous laws of public good, including federal statutes requiring the clean up of nuclear waste and background checks for gun ownership. Now the Roberts Court appears poised to use federalism and states' rights to limit federal power even further.
In this book, Erwin Chemerinsky passionately argues for a different vision: federalism as empowerment. He analyzes and criticizes the Supreme Court's recent conservative trend, and lays out his own challenge to the Court to approach their decisions with the aim of advancing liberty and enhancing effective governance. While the traditional approach has been about limiting federal power, an alternative conception would empower every level of government to deal with social problems. In Chemerinsky's view, federal power should address national problems like environmental protection and violations of civil rights, while state power can be strengthened in areas such as consumer privacy and employee protection.
The challenge for the 21st century is to reinvent American government so that it can effectively deal with enduring social ills and growing threats to personal freedom and civil liberties. Increasing the chains on government—as the Court and Congress are now doing in the name of federalism—is exactly the wrong way to enter the new century. But, an empowered federalism, as Chemerinsky shows, will profoundly alter the capabilities and promise of U.S. government and society.
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Rating: - reducing the role of the legislature
The author advocates the court system's writing law instead of being the arbiter. The author appears to believe that courts can make all decisions by broadly referencing the Constitution. In the extreme, the authority of elected legislatures would be dramatically diminished. I found his point of view frightening in his willingness to so dramatically tamper with the balance of powers of our system
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