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Constitutional Law for a Changing America
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Constitutional Law for a Changing America
Institutional Powers and Constraints

Twelfth Edition


March 2025 | 728 pages | CQ Press
In Constitutional Law for a Changing America: Institutional Powers and Constraints, bestselling authors Lee Epstein, Kevin T. McGuire, and Thomas G. Walker show students how political factors influence judicial decisions and shape the development of constitutional law. The Twelfth Edition, updated with additional material such as recent court rulings, more than 500 supplemental cases, and greater coverage of executive, legislative, and judicial power, facilitates a deeper understanding of how the U.S. Constitution defines what institutions can and cannot do.

This book is ideal for Constitutional Law courses in the two-semester sequence that covers powers and constraints. For courses that cover both rights and liberties and the separation of powers in one semester, see Constitutional Law for a Changing America: A Short Course.
 
Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Author
 
Part One: The U.S. Constitution
 
Chapter One: Understanding the U.S. Supreme Court
Processing Supreme Court Cases

 
Supreme Court Decision Making: Legalism

 
Supreme Court Decision Making: Realism

 
Conducting Research on the Supreme Court

 
Annotated Readings

 
 
Part Two: Institutional Authority
 
Chapter Two: The Judiciary
Establishment of the Federal Judiciary

 
Judicial Review

 
Constraints on Judicial Power: Article III

 
Constraints on Judicial Power: Judicial Self-Restraint and the Separation of Powers System

 
Annotated Readings

 
 
Chapter Three: The Legislature
Article I: Historical Overview

 
Congressional Authority over Internal Affairs: Institutional Independence and Integrity

 
Introduction to Legislative Powers

 
Enumerated Powers

 
Implied Powers and the Necessary and Proper Clause

 
Congress’s Intepretation of the Constitution

 
Annotated Readings

 
 
Chapter Four: The Executive
The Structure of the Presidency

 
The President’s Constitutional Authority and Tools for Executing It

 
The Faithful Execution of the Laws: Defining the Contours of Presidential Power

 
Domestic Powers of the President

 
The Role of the President in External Relations

 
Annotated Readings

 
 
Chapter Five: Interbranch Interactions
Debates over Interbranch Interactions

 
Domestic Powers

 
Powers over Foreign Affairs

 
Annotated Readings

 
 
Part Three: Nation-State Relations
 
Chapter Six: Federalism
The Doctrinal Cycle of Nation-State Relations

 
The Eleventh Amendment and Sovereign Immunity

 
National Preemption of State Laws

 
Annotated Readings

 
 
Chapter Seven: The Commerce Power
Foundations of the Commerce Power

 
Attempts to Define the Commerce Power in the Wake of the Industrial Revolution

 
The Supreme Court and the New Deal

 
The Era of Expansive Commerce Clause Jurisprudence

 
Limits on the Commerce Power: The Republican Court Era

 
Commerce Power of the States

 
Annotated Readings

 
 
Chapter Eight: The Power to Tax and Spend
The Framers and Defining the Financial Powers

 
Direct Taxes and the Power to Tax Income

 
Taxation of Exports

 
Intergovernmental Tax Immunity

 
Taxation as a Regulatory Power

 
Taxing and Spending for the General Welfare

 
Restrictions on the Revenue Powers of the States

 
Annotated Readings

 
 
Part Four: Economic Liberties
 
Chapter Nine: The Contract Clause
The Framers and the Contract Clause

 
John Marshall and the Contract Clause

 
Decline of the Contract Clause: From the Taney Court to the New Deal

 
Modern Applications of the Contract Clause

 
Annotated Readings

 
 
Chapter Ten: Economic Substantive Due Process
Development of Substantive Due Process

 
The Roller-Coaster Ride of Substantive Due Process: 1898–1923

 
The Heyday of Substantive Due Process: 1923–1936

 
The Depression, the New Deal, and the Decline of Economic Substantive Due Process

 
Substantive Due Process: Contemporary Relevance

 
Annotated Readings

 
 
Chapter Eleven: The Takings Clause
Protecting Private Property from Government Seizure

 
What Is a Taking?

 
What Is a Public Use?

 
What Is Just Compensation?

 
Annotated Readings

 
 
Reference Material

Supplements

Instructor Resources
Online resources included with this text

The online resources for your text are available via the password-protected Instructor Resource Site, which offers access to all text-specific resources, including a test bank and editable, chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides.

Case Archive
The authors have excerpted each case in the same format as those in the text, featuring the justices' votes, a summary of case facts, and a carefully edited version of the justices' opinions.

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