num_pages: 464
description: A leading legal scholar addresses the most important constitutional controversies of the past two decades and illuminates the Constitution's spirit and ongoing relevanceAmerica's Constitution Chief Justice John Marshall famously observed in McCulloch v. Maryland aspires to endure for ages to come. The daily news has a shorter shelf life and when the issues of the day involve momentous constitutional questions present-minded journalists and busy citizens cannot always see the stakes clearly.In The Constitution Today  Akhil Reed Amar America's preeminent constitutional scholar considers the biggest and most bitterly contested debates of the last two decades and provides a passionate handbook for thinking constitutionally about today's headlines. Amar shows how the Constitution's text history and structure are a crucial repository of collective wisdom providing specific rules and grand themes relevant to every organ of the American body politic. Prioritizing sound constitutional reasoning over partisan preferences he makes the case for diversity-based affirmative action and a right to have a gun in one's home for self-protection and against spending caps on independent political advertising and bans on same-sex marriage. He explains what's wrong with presidential dynasties advocates a nuclear option to restore majority rule in the Senate and suggests ways to reform the Supreme Court. And he revisits three dramatic constitutional conflicts -- the impeachment of Bill Clinton the contested election of George W. Bush and the fight over Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act -- to show what politicians judges and journalists got right as events unfolded and what they missed.Leading readers through the particular constitutional questions at stake in each episode while outlining his abiding views regarding the Constitution's letter its spirit and the direction constitutional law must go Amar offers an essential guide for anyone seeking to understand America's Constitution and its relevance today.
language: English
title: The Constitution Today: Timeless Lessons for the Issues of Our Era
publisher: Basic Books