Purchase
Oxford University Press, USA
September 2008
On Sale: September 17, 2008
304 pages
ISBN: 019530425X
EAN: 9780195304251
Hardcover
Add to Wish List
Non-Fiction Political
As everyone knows, the United States Constitution is a
tangible, visible document. Many see it in fact as a sacred
text, holding no meaning other than that which is clearly
visible on the page. Yet as renowned legal scholar Laurence
Tribe shows, what is not written in the Constitution plays a
key role in its interpretation. Indeed some of the most
contentious Constitutional debates of our time hinge on the
extent to which it can admit of divergent readings. In The Invisible Constitution, Tribe argues that there is an
unseen constitution--impalpable but powerful--that
accompanies the parchment version. It is the visible
document's shadow, its dark matter: always there and
possessing some of its key meanings and values despite its
absence on the page. As Tribe illustrates, some of our most
cherished and widely held beliefs about constitutional
rights are not part of the written document, but can only be
deduced by piecing together hints and clues from it.
Moreover, some passages of the Constitution do not even hold
today despite their continuing existence. Amendments may
have fundamentally altered what the Constitution originally
said about slavery and voting rights, yet the old provisos
about each are still in the text, unrevised. Through a
variety of historical episodes and key constitutional cases,
Tribe brings to life this invisible constitution, showing
how it has evolved and how it works. Detailing its invisible
structures and principles, Tribe compellingly demonstrates
the invisible constitution's existence and operative power. Remarkably original, keenly perceptive, and written with
Tribe's trademark analytical flair, this latest volume in
Oxford's Inalienable Rights series offers a new way of
understanding many of the central constitutional debates of
our time.
Comments
No comments posted.
Registered users may leave comments.
Log in or register now!
| 
© 2003-2025 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy