In this groundbreaking text, three highly acclaimed scholars provide historical context that puts the politics back into constitutional studies. Constitutionalism in the United States is not determined solely by decisions made by the Supreme Court. Moving beyond traditional casebooks, renowned scholars Howard Gillman, Mark A. Graber, and Keith E. Whittington take a refreshingly innovative approach in American Constitutionalism. Organized according to the standard two-semester sequence--in which Volume I covers Structures of Government and Volume II covers Rights and Liberties--this text is unique in that it presents the material in a historical organization within each volume, as opposed to the typical issues-based organization.
FEATURES: * Covers all important debates in U.S. constitutionalism, organized by historical era * Incorporates readings from all of the prominent participants in those debates * Clearly lays out the political and legal contexts in chapter introductions * Integrates more documents and cases than any other text on the market, including decisions made by elected officials and state courts * Offers numerous pedagogical features, including topical sections within each historical chapter, bulleted lists of major developments, explanatory headnotes for the readings, questions on court cases, illustrations and political cartoons, tables, and suggested readings