Engines Of Liberty: The Power Of Citizen Activists To Make Constitutional Law
by David Cole /
2016 / English / EPUB
1.5 MB Download
One of
One ofWashington Post
Washington Post's Notable Nonfiction Books of
2016
's Notable Nonfiction Books of
2016
How did gay and lesbian couples' right to marry go from
unthinkable to inevitable? How did the individual right to bear
arms, dismissed as fraudulent by Chief Justice Warren Burger in
1990, become a constitutional right in 2008? And what compelled
President George W. Bush to rein in many of his initiatives in
the war on terror before leaving office, even though past
presidents have had a free hand in wartime? We are likely to
answer that, in each case, the Supreme Court remade our nation's
most fundamental law.
How did gay and lesbian couples' right to marry go from
unthinkable to inevitable? How did the individual right to bear
arms, dismissed as fraudulent by Chief Justice Warren Burger in
1990, become a constitutional right in 2008? And what compelled
President George W. Bush to rein in many of his initiatives in
the war on terror before leaving office, even though past
presidents have had a free hand in wartime? We are likely to
answer that, in each case, the Supreme Court remade our nation's
most fundamental law.
Yet as the award-winning legal scholar David Cole argues in
Yet as the award-winning legal scholar David Cole argues inEngines of Liberty
Engines of Liberty, citizen activists are the true drivers
of constitutional change. Drawing on interviews with participants
in the most successful rights movements of the last 30 years, he
shows that time and again, associations of ordinary Americans
confronting long odds have managed to transform the nation's
highest law. And they have done so largely through advocacy
outside the federal courts altogether.
, citizen activists are the true drivers
of constitutional change. Drawing on interviews with participants
in the most successful rights movements of the last 30 years, he
shows that time and again, associations of ordinary Americans
confronting long odds have managed to transform the nation's
highest law. And they have done so largely through advocacy
outside the federal courts altogether.
We witness marriage equality advocates in the 1980s and 1990s
uniting behind a strategy of state-based incrementalism that
paved the way for their historic Supreme Court victory. We see
the NRA building a loyal and active membership base that can
swing elections and influence state and federal law, thereby
shaping the debate about guns at the Supreme Court. And we watch
as civil liberties and human rights groups encourage foreign
populations and governments to challenge the president when few
domestic institutions would.
We witness marriage equality advocates in the 1980s and 1990s
uniting behind a strategy of state-based incrementalism that
paved the way for their historic Supreme Court victory. We see
the NRA building a loyal and active membership base that can
swing elections and influence state and federal law, thereby
shaping the debate about guns at the Supreme Court. And we watch
as civil liberties and human rights groups encourage foreign
populations and governments to challenge the president when few
domestic institutions would.
Offering a new vision of the role we all play in shaping our
Constitution and illuminating the tactics successful reform
campaigns have employed,
Offering a new vision of the role we all play in shaping our
Constitution and illuminating the tactics successful reform
campaigns have employed,Engines of Liberty
Engines of Liberty restores faith
in the power of citizen activists to help shape our nation's
future.
restores faith
in the power of citizen activists to help shape our nation's
future.