Encyclopedia of Constitutional Amendments, Proposed Amendments, and Amending Issues, 1789–2015 [2 volumes]


Book Description

Now in its fourth edition and completely updated, this is the most comprehensive book on constitutional amendments and proposed amendments available. Although only 27 amendments have ever been added to the U.S. Constitution, the last one having been ratified in 1992, throughout American history, members of Congress have introduced more than 11,000 amendments, and countless individuals outside of Congress have advanced their own proposals to revise the Constitution—the wellspring of America's legal, political, and cultural foundations. At a time when calls for a new constitutional convention are on the rise, it is essential for students of political science and history as well as American citizens to understand proposed alternatives. This updated edition of the established standard for high school and college libraries as well as public and law libraries serves as the go-to reference for learning about existing constitutional amendments, proposed amendments, and the issues related to them. An alphabetically arranged two-volume set, it contains more than 500 entries that discuss amendments that have been proposed in Congress from 1789 to the present. It also discusses prominent proposals for extensive constitutional changes introduced outside Congress as well as discussions of major amending issues.




Encyclopedia of Constitutional Amendments, Proposed Amendments, and Amending Issues, 1789-2023 [2 volumes]


Book Description

Written by a leading scholar of the constitutional amending process, this two-volume encyclopedia, now in its fifth edition, is an indispensable resource for students, legal historians, and high school and college librarians. This authoritative reference resource provides a history and analysis of all 27 ratified amendments to the Constitution, as well as insights and information on thousands of other amendments that have been proposed but never ratified from America's birth until the present day. The set also includes a rich bibliography of informative books, articles, and other media related to constitutional amendments and the amending process.




Encyclopedia of Constitutional Amendments, Proposed Amendments, and Amending Issues, 1789-2010


Book Description

From the Publisher: With over 500 alphabetically organized entries, the Encyclopedia tells the whole story of constitutional amendments: the rigorous ratification process, the significance of the 27 amendments that made it into the Constitution, and the notable and sometimes preposterous topics of the thousands that did not. The third edition offers a new preface, updated research throughout, and over 75 new entries, including discussions of amendments currently under consideration, such as proposals to ban burning the U.S. flag, legalize school prayer, and compel the federal government to balance the budget.




Encyclopedia of Constitutional Amendments, Proposed Amendments, and Amending Issues, 1789-2010: N-W


Book Description

From the Publisher: With over 500 alphabetically organized entries, the Encyclopedia tells the whole story of constitutional amendments: the rigorous ratification process, the significance of the 27 amendments that made it into the Constitution, and the notable and sometimes preposterous topics of the thousands that did not. The third edition offers a new preface, updated research throughout, and over 75 new entries, including discussions of amendments currently under consideration, such as proposals to ban burning the U.S. flag, legalize school prayer, and compel the federal government to balance the budget.




Encyclopedia of the Fourth Amendment


Book Description

This work provides a unique overview for individuals seeking to understand the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It covers key concepts, events, laws and legal doctrines, court decisions, and litigators and litigants regarding the law of search and seizure.




Encyclopedia of the Fourth Amendment


Book Description

Covering the key concepts, events, laws and legal doctrines, court decisions, and litigators and litigants, this new reference on the law of search and seizure—in the physical as well as the online world—provides a unique overview for individuals seeking to understand the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. More than 900 A to Z entries cover the key issues that surround this essential component of the Bill of Rights and the linchpin of a right to privacy. This two-volume reference—from the editors of CQ Press’s award-winning Encyclopedia of the First Amendment—features a series of essays that examine the historical background of the Fourth Amendment along with its key facets relating to: Technology Privacy Terrorism Warrant requirement Congress States A to Z entries include cross-references and bibliographic entries. This work also features both alphabetical and topical tables of contents as well as a comprehensive subject index and a case index.At a time when threats of crime and terrorism have resulted in increased governmental surveillance into personal lives, this work will serve as an important asset for researchers seeking information on the history and relevance of legal rights against such intrusions. Key Features: More than 900 signed entries, including 600 court cases and 100 biographies Preface by noted journalist Nat Hentoff From the editors of CQ Press’s award-winning Encyclopedia of the First Amendment




The People’s Constitution


Book Description

The 233-year story of how the American people have taken an imperfect constitution—the product of compromises and an artifact of its time—and made it more democratic Who wrote the Constitution? That’s obvious, we think: fifty-five men in Philadelphia in 1787. But much of the Constitution was actually written later, in a series of twenty-seven amendments enacted over the course of two centuries. The real history of the Constitution is the astonishing story of how subsequent generations have reshaped our founding document amid some of the most colorful, contested, and controversial battles in American political life. It’s a story of how We the People have improved our government’s structure and expanded the scope of our democracy during eras of transformational social change. The People’s Constitution is an elegant, sobering, and masterly account of the evolution of American democracy. From the addition of the Bill of Rights, a promise made to save the Constitution from near certain defeat, to the post–Civil War battle over the Fourteenth Amendment, from the rise and fall of the “noble experiment” of Prohibition to the defeat and resurgence of an Equal Rights Amendment a century in the making, The People’s Constitution is the first book of its kind: a vital guide to America’s national charter, and an alternative history of the continuing struggle to realize the Framers’ promise of a more perfect union.




Landmark Legislation 1774-2012


Book Description

The Second Edition of this renowned treasure trove of information about the most important laws and treaties enacted by the U.S. Congress now deepens its historical coverage and examines an entire decade of new legislation. Landmark Legislation 1774-2012 includes additional acts and treaties chosen for their historical significance or their precedential importance for later areas of major federal legislative activity in the over 200 years since the convocation of the Continental Congress. Brand new chapters expand coverage to include the last five numbered Congresses (10 years of activity from 2003-2012), which has seen landmark legislation in the areas of health insurance and health care reform; financial regulatory reform; fiscal stimulus and the Temporary Asset Relief Program; federal support for stem cell research; reform of federal financial support for public schools and higher education; and much more. Features & Benefits: Each chapter covers one of the numbered Congresses with a historical essay, followed by the major acts of that Congress arranged in chronological order of passage – with each act summarized. A Finder’s Guide summarizes all of the acts and treaties into approximately 40 separate topical policy areas. The work’s extensive bibliography has been expanded and updated. This one-volume resource is a must-have for any public or academic library, especially those with strong American history or political science collections.




The Constitution in Jeopardy


Book Description

A former U.S. senator joins a legal scholar to examine a hushed effort to radically change our Constitution, offering a warning and a way forward. Over the last two decades, a fringe plan to call a convention under the Constitution's amendment mechanism—the nation's first ever—has inched through statehouses. Delegates, like those in Philadelphia two centuries ago, would exercise nearly unlimited authority to draft changes to our fundamental law, potentially altering anything from voting and free speech rights to regulatory and foreign policy powers. Such a watershed moment would present great danger, and for some, great power. In this important book, Feingold and Prindiville distill extensive legal and historical research and examine the grave risks inherent in this effort. But they also consider the role of constitutional amendment in modern life. Though many focus solely on judicial and electoral avenues for change, such an approach is at odds with a cornerstone ideal of the Founding: that the People make constitutional law, directly. In an era defined by faction and rejection of long-held norms, The Constitution in Jeopardy examines the nature of constitutional change and asks urgent questions about what American democracy is, and should be.




The Writing and Ratification of the U.S. Constitution


Book Description

The writing of the Constitution at the Constitutional Convention that met in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 was, along with the subsequent ratification of the document in state conventions, a major watershed in U.S. history. An understanding of the plans that were offered, the conflicts that were represented, and the arguments that were made are critical to an understanding of many features of the document that was ratified in 1789 as well as in understanding the Bill of Rights that was adopted in 1791. In The Writing and Ratification of the U.S. Constitution: Practical Virtue in Action, John R. Vile focuses on records of debates at the Convention, and provides a unique window into the contestation surrounding this keystone American political moment.