We the People: Volume 2: Transformations
It sounds rather, well,unconstitutionalto say the Constitution can be ignored when great issues are at stake, so long as the People are on your side. But that concept, according to Mr. Ackerman, is the key to understanding our constitutional system...Mr. Ackerman is attempting [a] revolution in the way we look at constitutional law. It's a massive endeavor...[which] mates history and legal theory at a time when specialization has sent the two disciplines in different directions...[It has] drawn much praise--Sanford Levinson, of the University of Texas's law school, has called it 'The most important project now under way in the entire field of constitutional theory'...This is one professor, it's safe to say, who couldn't be accused of dodging the big questions. (Christopher SheaThe Chronicle of Higher Education)We the People: Transformationsis a welcome return to a sort of constitutional and political history that is no longer fashionable in the academy, where social history is now ascendant. It is, in addition, a lively and informative read. (Adam WolfsonCommentary)[Bruce Ackerman's] particular constitutional focus is Article Five, that lays down the rules for the process of constitutional amendments, and how "We the people" have transformed the constitution in ways not laid down by such rules in the three most significant constitutional processes in American history: 1787, Reconstruction, and the New Deal...[This] book may serve as an instance of American Studies at its very best...Ackerman's analyses and arguments may at times be controversial but they are always clearly and convincingly expressed. Running through its narrative and serving to make it a compelling one is the story of how the United States has developed from a federation of states to a nation. (Orm OverlandAmerican Studies in Europe)We the Peopleoffers a thoroughly researched, provocative, and passionate counterpoint to the now stale debate over original intent as a guide to constitutional understanding. (Kermit L. HallJournal of American History)This is a superb, provocative, and often gripping account of how We the People mobilize to produce constitutional change. A wonderful blend of history, political science, and constitutional law, this volume attempts to vindicate Ackerman's striking claim that the Civil War and the New Deal inaugurated large-scale constitutional transformations. (Cass Sunstein, University of Chicago Law School)Two myths sustain the American people, Ackerman suggests. The first holds that the federal government consistently ignores the will of the people, whose mandate must constantly be pressed against its compromised and uncompromising leaders. The second is that our Constitution is so artfully constructed that changing it, for good or bad, is nearly impossible. Drawing on subtle legal argument and a solid command of history, Ackerman goes on to suggest that although the first scenario may seem to be accurate, the second is certainly not; governments have frequently bent the Constitution to serve their ideological ends...Readers well grounded in constitutional law will find Ackerman's arguments fascinating and provocative. (Kirkus Reviews)In an analysis which is by turns breezy, scholarly and impassioned, Ackerman investigates the origins of those 'transformative moments' in the past when the American people have engaged in a 'deepening institutional dialogue' with political elites to adapt and renew the United States Constitution, thereby reaffirming and extending popular sovereignty…The energy and learning with which its case is advanced makeTransformationsthe most provocative intellectual history of constitutional issues published in many a year. (Peter ThompsonEnglish Historical Review)