Courts and the Culture Wars
Published on 28. October 2002
Book
Hardback
236 pages
978-0-7391-0414-9 (ISBN)
Description
For much of the second half of the twentieth century, America's courts-state and federal-have injected themselves into what many critics consider to be fundamentally moral or political disputes. By constitutionalizing these disputes, many feel that the courts have reduced the ability of Americans to engage in traditional, political modes of settling differences over issues that excite particular passion. While legal discourse is well suited to choosing decisive winners and losers, political discourse is perhaps more conducive to reasonable compromise and accommodation. In Courts and the Culture Wars Bradley C. S. Watson has brought together some of America's most distinguished names in constitutional theory and practice to consider the impact of judicial engagement in the moral, religious, and cultural realms-including such issues as school prayer, abortion, gay rights, and expressive speech.
Reviews / Votes
Courts and the Culture Wars casts a spotlight on the role that judges and lawyers have played in undercutting Americans' ability to have a say in setting the conditions under which they live, work and raise their children. These essays by some of the nation's most forthright social critics are lively, provocative, and sobering. -- Mary Ann Glendon, Learned Hand Professor of Law, Harvard University, former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy SeeMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
523 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7391-0414-9 (9780739104149)
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
Persons
Bradley C. S. Watson is Associate Professor of Political Science and Fellow in Politics and Culture in the Center for Economic and Policy Education at Saint Vincent College. He is the author of Civil Rights and the Paradox of Liberal Democracy, (Lexington Books, 1999).
Content
Part 1 Introduction: Courting Disaster: Jurisprudence as Moral Philosophy
Part 2 Courts and Culture: Fundamental Theoretical Issues
Chapter 3 Courts and the Culture Wars
Chapter 4 From Ockham to Blackmun: The Philosophical Roots of Liberal Jurisprudence
Chapter 5 The Death of the Legal Constitution and the Specter of Judicial Review
Part 6 Cultural Controversies and the Courts: Abortion, Homosexuality, Church and State
Chapter 7 The Right to Life, the Higher Law, and the Courts
Chapter 8 Who Owns the Right to Privacy?
Chapter 9 Tolerance and American Constitutionalism: The Case of Gay Rights
Chapter 10 Religious Freedom Without Religious Neutrality: Our Once and Future Constitutional Common Sense
Part 11 Judicial Practice and the Culture Wars
Chapter 12 The One-Way Ratchet and Other Problems of Stare Decisis for Cultural Conservatives
Chapter 13 The California Supreme Court in the Culture Wars: A Case Study in Judicial Failure
Part 14 Courts, Culture, and Liberal Democracy
Chapter 15 Courts, Culture, and Community: Rescuing Constitutional Supremacy from Judicial Supremacy
Chapter 16 The Voting Rights Act and the Politics of Multiculturalism: The Challenge to Commercial Republicanism at Century's Turn
Part 2 Courts and Culture: Fundamental Theoretical Issues
Chapter 3 Courts and the Culture Wars
Chapter 4 From Ockham to Blackmun: The Philosophical Roots of Liberal Jurisprudence
Chapter 5 The Death of the Legal Constitution and the Specter of Judicial Review
Part 6 Cultural Controversies and the Courts: Abortion, Homosexuality, Church and State
Chapter 7 The Right to Life, the Higher Law, and the Courts
Chapter 8 Who Owns the Right to Privacy?
Chapter 9 Tolerance and American Constitutionalism: The Case of Gay Rights
Chapter 10 Religious Freedom Without Religious Neutrality: Our Once and Future Constitutional Common Sense
Part 11 Judicial Practice and the Culture Wars
Chapter 12 The One-Way Ratchet and Other Problems of Stare Decisis for Cultural Conservatives
Chapter 13 The California Supreme Court in the Culture Wars: A Case Study in Judicial Failure
Part 14 Courts, Culture, and Liberal Democracy
Chapter 15 Courts, Culture, and Community: Rescuing Constitutional Supremacy from Judicial Supremacy
Chapter 16 The Voting Rights Act and the Politics of Multiculturalism: The Challenge to Commercial Republicanism at Century's Turn