Description
Book SynopsisAmendments are, among other things, recognitions of the imperfection of existing schemes of government. This book brings together essays on a range of questions from whether the US Constitution is subject to amendment by procedures other than those authorized by Article V to how change is conceptualized within classical rabbinic Judaism.
Trade Review"[A] provocative collection of essays... [A] superb volume."--The Law and Politics Book Review "Sanford Levinson has assembled a sparkling collection of essays on the theory of constitutional amendment. Responding to Imperfection belongs in the library of every student of the Constitution... [An] enthusiastic thumbs-up for this provocative collection of essays... [A] superb volume."--The Law and Politics Book Review
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments1Introduction: Imperfection and Amendability32How Many Times Has the United States Constitution Been Amended? (A) < 26; (B) 26; (C) 27; (D) > 27: Accounting for Constitutional Change133Constitutionalism in the United States: From Theory to Politics374Higher Lawmaking635Popular Sovereignty and Constitutional Amendment896The Plain Meaning of Article V1177Amending the Presuppositions of a Constitution1458Merlin's Memory: The Past and Future Imperfect of the Once and Future Polity1639The Case against Implicit Limits on the Constitutional Amending Process19110The "Original" Thirteenth Amendment and the Limits to Formal Constitutional Change21511Toward a Theory of Constitutional Amendment23712The Politics of Constitutional Revision in Eastern Europe27513Midrash: Amendment through the Molding of Meaning307Appendix: Amending Provisions of Selected New Constitutions in Eastern Europe319Contributors325Index327
