Constitutional Dialogues

Interpretation as Political Process

Louis Fisher

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9780691022871, 9780691077802
• eBook ISBN: 9781400859573
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Public Law
• Index: Law

Who makes constitutional law? Is constitutional doctrine the monopoly of the courts? In accessible and persuasive prose Louis Fisher explains that constitutional law is not solely or even primarily the Supreme Court's "final word" but rather a richly political convergence of separate interpretations. With a broad range of examples, he argues that constitutional principles emerge from a dialogue among all three branches of government--executive, legislative, and judicial. Important contributions also come from the states and the general public. Fisher identifies executive and legislative initiatives in many areas of constitutional significance. Where there is litigation, the Court generally upholds these initiatives or may avoid making a constitutional decision by using "threshold devices." On those rare occasions when the Supreme Court exercises judicial review and strikes down a presidential or congressional action, it is usually only a matter of time before the proposal is revived and the dialogue begins again.

Originally published in 1988.

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. Public Law and Politics
• 2. The Doctrine of Judicial Review
• 3. Threshold Requirements: Husbanding Power and Prestige
• 4. Judicial Organization
• 5. Decisionmaking: Process and Strategy
• 6. Efforts to Curb the Court
• 7. Coordinate Construction
• Conclusion
• Suggested Readings
• Index of Cases
• General Index