Description
Book SynopsisIn modern nations, political disagreement is the source of both the gravest danger and the greatest security, writes Cass Sunstein. All democracies face intense political conflict. But is this conflict necessarily something to fear? In this provocative book, one of our leading political and legal theorists reveals how a nation''s divisions of conviction and belief can be used to safeguard democracy. Confronting one explosive political issue after another, from presidential impeachment to the limits of religious liberty, from discrimination against women and gays to the role of the judiciary, Sunstein constructs a powerful new perspective from which to show how democracies negotiate their most divisive real-world problems. He focuses on a series of concrete concerns that go to the heart of the relationship between the idea of democracy and the idea of constitutionalism. Illustrating his discussion with examples from constitutional debates and court-cases in South Africa, Eastern Europe,
Trade ReviewSunstein takes the reader on a nuanced but spirited journey across a broad terrain of constitutional issues, from race discrimination to religious rights and presidential impeachment. Designing Democracy is a welcome change from the many books on constitutional law that sink under the weight of hermetic debates about interpretive methods. ...this approach brings a fresh perspective to many of the well-worn but still vital issues of American constitutional debate. * New York Times Book Review *
One of our finest constitutional thinkers, Cass Sunstein develops here a powerful new understanding of a constitution's purpose and resources. In this important book, Professor Sunstein discusses the way a democratic constitution can turn a nation's political differences, however sharp, into a constructive force. * William Jefferson Clinton, former president of the United States *
A powerful, persuasive critique of the conditions that distort [democratic] deliberation. * Washington Post Bookworld *
