Separation of Powers in Practice

“Few people have viewed American government from so many angles as Tom Campbell. As a five-term Congressman and a California state senator, he learned what the states and the federal government each do best, and what Congress, the executive branch and the courts each do best. With erudition and vivid case studies, he has drawn his political experience into a rich and insightful volume of essays on the separation of powers. No book so learned in the law has ever looked at the comparative advantages of each branch of government through the lens of such lived experience.” —Kathleen M. Sullivan, Dean, Stanford Law School
“Tom Campbell takes a strikingly innovative and sophisticated approach to a fundamental constitutional question: the separation of powers that is the bedrock of our national government. His service as a congressman adds richness and realism to his scholarship. These essays will prove fascinating to all who are interested in wise government and the structural basis for American freedoms.”

—Robert H. Bork,Distinguished Senior Fellow, The Hudson Institute

Campbell (business, U. of California-Berkeley) presents a series of case studies and essays illustrating clashes between the branches of the American federal government, that is, between the three branches of the national government and between the national and state governments. To introduce them, he discusses structural features of the separation of powers. He has served in the US House of Representatives and the California Senate, and has taught law. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Tom Campbell is a former five-term U.S. Congressman and one-term California State Senator. He was a Professor of Law at Stanford for nineteen years, and is currently Bank of America Dean and Professor of Business at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley.