
Democracy and Dysfunction
University of Chicago Press
Published on 22. April 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
208 pages
978-0-226-61204-1 (ISBN)
Description
It is no longer controversial that the American political system has become deeply dysfunctional. Today, only slightly more than a quarter of Americans believe the country is heading in the right direction, while sixty-three percent believe we are on a downward slope. The top twenty words used to describe the past year include "chaotic," "turbulent," and "disastrous." Donald Trump's improbable rise to power and his 2016 Electoral College victory placed America's political dysfunction in an especially troubling light, but given the extreme polarization of contemporary politics, the outlook would have been grim even if Hillary Clinton had won. The greatest upset in American presidential history is only a symptom of deeper problems of political culture and constitutional design.
Democracy and Dysfunction brings together two of the leading constitutional law scholars of our time, Sanford Levinson and Jack M. Balkin, in an urgently needed conversation that seeks to uncover the underlying causes of our current crisis and their meaning for American democracy. In a series of letters exchanged over a period of two years, Levinson and Balkin travel--along with the rest of the country--through the convulsions of the 2016 election and Trump's first year in office. They disagree about the scope of the crisis and the remedy required. Levinson believes that our Constitution is fundamentally defective and argues for a new constitutional convention, while Balkin, who believes we are suffering from constitutional rot, argues that there are less radical solutions. As it becomes dangerously clear that Americans--and the world--will be living with the consequences of this pivotal period for many years to come, it is imperative that we understand how we got here--and how we might forestall the next demagogue who will seek to beguile the American public.
Democracy and Dysfunction brings together two of the leading constitutional law scholars of our time, Sanford Levinson and Jack M. Balkin, in an urgently needed conversation that seeks to uncover the underlying causes of our current crisis and their meaning for American democracy. In a series of letters exchanged over a period of two years, Levinson and Balkin travel--along with the rest of the country--through the convulsions of the 2016 election and Trump's first year in office. They disagree about the scope of the crisis and the remedy required. Levinson believes that our Constitution is fundamentally defective and argues for a new constitutional convention, while Balkin, who believes we are suffering from constitutional rot, argues that there are less radical solutions. As it becomes dangerously clear that Americans--and the world--will be living with the consequences of this pivotal period for many years to come, it is imperative that we understand how we got here--and how we might forestall the next demagogue who will seek to beguile the American public.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Chicago
United States
Publishing group
The University of Chicago Press
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 225 mm
Width: 150 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
346 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-226-61204-1 (9780226612041)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Sanford Levinson | Jack M. Balkin
Democracy and Dysfunction
E-Book
12/2022
1st Edition
University of Chicago Press
from
€22.80
Available for download
Persons
Sanford Levinson is the W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood Jr. Centennial Chair in Law at the University of Texas Law School and professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of several books and coauthor, with Cynthia Levinson, of Fault Lines in the Constitution.Jack M. Balkin is the Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment at Yale Law School, where he also directs its Information Society Project. He founded and edits the Balkinization blog and is the author of several books, including Constitutional Redemption and Living Originalism.