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OverviewWe are taught in civics class that the Constitution provides for three basic branches of government: executive, judicial, and legislative. While the President and Congress as elected by popular vote are representative, can they really reflect accurately the will and sentiment of the populace? Or do money and power dominate everyday politics to the detriment of true self-governance? Is there a way to put We the people back into government? Ethan Leib thinks there is and offers this blueprint for a fourth branch of government as a way of giving the people a voice of their own. While drawing on the rich theoretical literature about deliberative democracy, Leib concentrates on designing an institutional scheme for embedding deliberation in the practice of American democratic government. At the heart of his scheme is a process for the adjudication of issues of public policy by assemblies of randomly selected citizens convened to debate and vote on the issues, resulting in the enactment of laws subject both to judicial review and to possible veto by the executive and legislative branches. The popular branch would fulfill a purpose similar to the ballot initiative and referendum but would avoid the shortcomings associated with those forms of direct democracy. Leib takes special pains to show how this new branch would be integrated with the already existing governmental and political institutions of our society, including administrative agencies and political parties, and would thus complement rather than supplant them. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Ethan J. LeibPublisher: Pennsylvania State University Press Imprint: Pennsylvania State University Press Edition: New edition Dimensions: Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.40cm , Length: 22.90cm Weight: 0.254kg ISBN: 9780271026978ISBN 10: 0271026979 Pages: 168 Publication Date: 15 April 2004 Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate , Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: Out of stock  The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available. Table of ContentsContents Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Getting Right Down to the Business of Design 2. Arguing for Arguing 3. Defending the Separation of Powers: The Failures of the Progressives 4. Checking and Balancing 5. Considering Possible Objections 6. Learning from the Jury Analogy 7. Setting the Agenda in Civil Society Conclusion, or Just the Beginning Bibliography IndexReviewsLeib makes a bold foray into the realm of Constitutional design that adds sorely needed suggestions for fundamental institutional change into debates about deliberative democracy. With uncommon insight and creativity, he draws upon practical innovations in local deliberation such as citizen juries and deliberative polls to construct a proposal for an entirely new branch of government that would inject direct popular deliberation into law-making. His book is highly profitable and provocative for anyone interested in the deeply democratic reform of American government. - Archon Fung, Harvard University Author InformationEthan J. Leib is Assistant Professor of Law at University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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