Law, Society & Politics

This book explores critical questions pertaining to the character and content of the American People as posited in the US Supreme Court's interpretation of the fundamental law. What exactly is an American? Who or what comprise the People? What are the constitutive sociocultural, political, and economic ordering principles of the American People and society? How does the Court impact the nationalist character and content of law and policy? From a sociocultural, economic, political, and ideological perspective, the Court's singular proclamations as to what the US Constitution means, what is its purpose, and how it is to be perceived and implemented have profound consequences for representational politics and notions of what exactly constitutes the American polity. This book employs a critical, conceptual, and structural approach, critically examining the notion of the People in constitutional discourse, and its impact on government, politics, law, and society in the present.

Re-examines the impact of the Supreme Court on democratic representation in American law and politics. The anti-democratic and elitist nature of the Court's power to pronounce what constitutes the People in the American polity is revisited and assessed Analyzes the impact of the Court from a conceptual and comprehensive perspective that seeks to illuminate how the Court's interpretation of the People affects the actual peoples in a representative democracy Revisits, re-conceptualizes, and adds a distinct critical perspective to the literature seeking to ascertain the role and consequence of Court power on American law, politics, and society

Autorentext

Marvin L. Astrada is a Lecturer in the Politics & History Department at New York University in Washington D.C., USA. He holds a PhD in Politics and International Relations, and a JD. His research, focusing on the intersection between law, politics, and society, has appeared in various law journals and peer reviewed books.

Inhalt

1. Introduction: Step 1 - Backgrounder for an Exercise in Disaggregation.- 2. Step 2 - Illuminating Court Power Through Disaggregation: Elitism, Power, Process, Discourse & Representation.- 3. Step 3 - The People as Politics, Discursive & Legal Construct: Who/What are "We The People?".- 4. Step 4 - The People, Process, Law & Court Power.- 5. Step 5 - Concluding Thoughts: Truth, the People, Court Power & Representative Politics.