akhil

Piyal Shakhar Phnake
$0.99

America's Constitution: A Biography
$18.00
In America¡Çs Constitution, one of this era¡Çs most accomplished constitutional law scholars, Akhil Reed Amar, gives the first comprehensive account of one of the world¡Çs great political texts. Incisive, entertaining, and occasionally controversial, this ¡Èbiography¡É of America¡Çs framing document explains not only what the Constitution says but also why the Constitution says it.

We all know this much: the Constitution is neither immutable nor perfect. Amar shows us how the story of this one relatively compact document reflects the story of America more generally. (For example, much of the Constitution, including the glorious-sounding ¡ÈWe the People,¡É was lifted from existing American legal texts, including early state constitutions.) In short, the Constitution was as much a product of its environment as it was a product of its individual creators¡Ç inspired genius.

Despite the Constitution¡Çs flaws, its role in guiding our republic has been nothing short of amazing. Skillfully placing the document in the context of late-eighteenth-century American politics, America¡Çs Constitution explains, for instance, whether there is anything in the Constitution that is unamendable; the reason America adopted an electoral college; why a president must be at least thirty-five years old; and why?for now, at least?only those citizens who were born under the American flag can become president.

From his unique perspective, Amar also gives us unconventional wisdom about the Constitution and its significance throughout the nation¡Çs history. For one thing, we see that the Constitution has been far more democratic than is conventionally understood. Even though the document was drafted by white landholders, a remarkably large number of citizens (by the standards of 1787) were allowed to vote up or down on it, and the document¡Çs later amendments eventually extended the vote to virtually all Americans.

We also learn that the Founders¡Ç Constitution was far more slavocratic than many would acknowledge: the ¡Èthree fifths¡É clause gave the South extra political clout for every slave it owned or acquired. As a result, slaveholding Virginians held the presidency all but four of the Republic¡Çs first thirty-six years, and proslavery forces eventually came to dominate much of the federal government prior to Lincoln¡Çs election.

Ambitious, even-handed, eminently accessible, and often surprising, America¡Çs Constitution is an indispensable work, bound to become a standard reference for any student of history and all citizens of the United States.


From the Hardcover edition.

After The People Vote: A Guide To The Electoral College, Third Edition
$15.00
The extraordinary presidential election contest in 2000 raised new issues about the electoral process. In the third edition of After the People Vote: A Guide to the Electoral College, leading constitutional, political, and legal scholars use examples from that controversial election and other disputed elections to explain how the electoral college works. The new edition of this popular guide provides a short history of contested elections, including a fresh essay on the 2000 election. It features all-new essays arguing for and against the electoral college, as well as appendixes that are updated and expanded to include electoral college and popular vote totals from past presidential elections. An added section concentrates on the period between Election Day in November and the casting of votes by electors in December. After the People Vote is the only book of its kind that is keyed to the specific dates between Election Day and the inauguration, which allows the reader to focus on the key procedural issues at each juncture of the election. After the People Vote is a handbook for students, scholars, journalists, policymakers, political scientists, lawyers, and general readers interested in understanding the workings of the electoral college and other post?Election Day election processes. It explains: how disputed presidential elections are resolved;
why we have an electoral college;
how electors are selected and bound;
what the constitutional provisions are for selecting a president;
what the statutory provisions are for selecting a president;
how consistent state recount procedures are;
why it is important for states to certify their election results by a date before the electors cast their votes;
what the presidential succession process is;
what the interactions of the Constitution, federal, and state statutes are; and
what the party and parliamentary rules are.

Nasyid Legenda II
$17.99