Citation:
Tushnet, Mark. 2010. Why the Constitution Matters (Why X Matters Series). Yale University Press. Copy at http://www.tinyurl.com/lw5zk69
Abstract:
In this surprising and highly unconventional work, Harvard law
professor Mark Tushnet poses a seemingly simple question that yields a
thoroughly unexpected answer. The Constitution matters, he argues, not
because it structures our government but because it structures our
politics. He maintains that politicians and political parties—not
Supreme Court decisions—are the true engines of constitutional change in
our system. This message will empower all citizens who use direct
political action to define and protect our rights and liberties as
Americans.
Unlike legal scholars who consider the
Constitution only as a blueprint for American democracy, Tushnet focuses
on the ways it serves as a framework for political debate. Each branch
of government draws substantive inspiration and procedural structure
from the Constitution but can effect change only when there is the
political will to carry it out. Tushnet’s political understanding of the
Constitution therefore does not demand that citizens pore over the
specifics of each Supreme Court decision in order to improve our nation.
Instead, by providing key facts about Congress, the president, and the
nature of the current constitutional regime, his book reveals not only why the Constitution matters to each of us but also, and perhaps more important, how it matters.