Overview

In Why We Vote, renowned legal scholar Owen Fiss offers a bold and daring reconstruction of judicial doctrine that gives expression to the democratic aspirations of the US Constitution. Fiss argues that embedded within the Constitution is a commitment to democracy, and that over the course of the twentieth century, the Supreme Court brought to fruition the principle that allows those who are ruled to choose their rulers. Each chapter focuses on Supreme Court cases that enlarged the freedom that democracy generates. Fiss points to rulings that allowed citizens to vote, facilitated the exercise of their right to vote, ensured the equality of votes, and provided feasible access to the ballot for independent candidates and new political parties. He celebrates these decisions and at the same time insists upon shifting the ground upon which these decisions rest--from equal protection of the laws to the recognition of a federal constitutional right to vote. Given the threat of democratic backsliding in a nation that has the world's oldest democratic constitution, Fiss's analysis and message are more important than ever.

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9780197746387

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Reviews

Owen Fiss is the acknowledged master of purpose-driven constitutional interpretation. In this crucial book, he focuses on democracy itself, urging the courts to adopt a systemic approach to treating voting as the right at the core of our democratic Constitution. Why We Vote shows that Fiss's unique combination of moral vision and legal virtuosity is as essential, and as powerful, as ever. * Noah Feldman, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Harvard University * Fiss has a genius for concise and clear constitutional arguments, and this book will be of great interest to any reader who fears that traditional American voting rights are currently at great risk. * Stanley N. Katz, Lecturer with rank of Professor of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University * This is a work of great lucidity and moral power. Fiss gives the best case we are likely to see for reading the Constitution as a charter of democracy. His arguments deserve close attention from jurists, scholars, and activists. * Jedediah Purdy, Raphael Lemkin Professor of Law, Duke Law School * Modern constitutional law has lost its way. It has forgotten that our Constitution, above all, intends to create a democracy, a system where the people truly rule. In this invaluable book, Owen Fiss eloquently reminds us of our Constitution's democratic character. Constitutional law is not-but must be-the law of democracy. * Nicholas Stephanopoulos, Kirkland & Ellis Professor of Law, Harvard Law School *

Author Information

Owen Fiss is Sterling Professor Emeritus of Law at Yale University. He clerked for Thurgood Marshall when he served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and later for William J. Brennan, Jr. on the Supreme Court. Fiss also served in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice from 1966 to 1968. He is the author of many books, including The Law As It Could Be, The Irony of Free Speech, and Pillars of Justice. In 2020, the American Philosophical Society awarded Fiss the Henry M. Phillips Prize for his lifetime achievement in jurisprudence.

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