Corwin and Peltason's Understanding the Constitution

For over fifty years, UNDERSTANDING THE CONSTITUTION has provided an accessible introduction to the document that defines and limits the powers of the United States and the rights of individuals. Thorough and precise, this textbook walks through, clause by clause, the entire Constitution, including all original articles and all subsequent amendments, and explains what the document says, as well as the key Supreme Court cases that define that part of the law. Updated thoroughly every three years, it includes the most recent developments in constitutional law.

This is the new edition of a political science textbook first published in 1949 and retains the format of examining the foundational political document of the United States article-by-article and amendment-by-amendment. Case material is included in a descriptive format (as opposed to simple excerpts of rulings) and incorporates material that has occurred since the 15th edition was published in 2000, including the contested presidential election of 2000 and the impact of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the government's response. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Sue Davis received her Ph.D. from the University of California-Santa Barbara. She is a professor of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Delaware where she teaches Constitutional Law, American Political Thought, and Politics, and Literature. Her most recent book, ELIZABETH CADY STANTON: WOMEN'S RIGHTS AND AMERICAN POLITICAL TRADITION, will be published by New York University Press in 2007. Her other books include AMERICAN POLITICAL THOUGHT: FOUR HUNDRED YEARS OF IDEAS AND IDEOLOGIES, Prentice-Hall, 1996 and JUSTICE REHNQUIST AND THE CONSTITUTION, Princeton University Press, 1898.