Understanding the Constitution

For over fifty years, UNDERSTANDING THE CONSTITUTION has helped students understand and interpret the document that outlines America's fundamental rules and government structures. Always current and concise, this textbook goes beyond generalities to discover the major constitutional issues of our times, a constantly evolving process.

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.

J.W. Peltason is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, as well as a past vice president of the American Political Science Association. He is an expert on American constitutional politics and American political institutions. He has written on the Constitution, the courts, state and local government, and the American political process. In addition, Dr. Peltason is one of the leading figures in American higher education: he is the former President of the University of California, former Chancellor of UCI, former Chancellor of the University of Illinois, and past president of the American Council on Education.