Review
"Balkin has been an important participant in each of the internal left -- liberal debates in the legal academy since the 1980s and developed a theory of liberal originalism -- living originalism -- in the George W. Bush era." -- Calvin TerBeek, PhD candidate in the political science department at the University of Chicago., Law & Social Inquiry, Volume 46, Issue 3"With a masterful command of political science, history and the law, Jack Balkin has put our current political and constitutional crisis into a broader and compelling context. The Cycles of Constitutional Time should be read by anybody and everybody trying to get a handle on where we are, why we are there, and where we might be going." -- Norman Ornstein, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute; co-author of One Nation After Trump: A Guide for the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate and the Not-Yet-Deported"Of the many books written since and about the election of Donald Trump, few have achieved the vision and depth of Jack Balkin's Cycles of Constitutional Time. Balkin mounts a comprehensive theory of the American regime, showing how various factors--the rise and fall of Reaganism, the increase in polarization, and deepening constitutional rot--not only brought us Trump but also, curiously and counterintuitively, might help dispose of him. Along the way, Balkin delivers one death blow after another to our most cherished beliefs, including the notion that it will be the Supreme Court that saves us. Far from being a cause for despair, Balkin's bracing and unblinkered realism offers us, with a proper mix of caution and hope, a way to see past the current moment to a future of some promise." -- Corey Robin, Professor of Political Science, Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center; author of The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Donald Trump"Balkin's analysis of the threats to the constitutional order is both timely and incisive. There has been a lot of talk about our constitutional discontents, but Balkin brings a keen analytical eye and a needed historical perspective to bear to the issue. This book deserves a careful reading from anyone who is concerned about the foundations of the American political system and its future." -- Keith E. Whittington, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics, Princeton University; author of Constitutional Construction: Divided Powers and Constitutional Meaning Book Description
Constitutional rot threatens our nation's future, but, as Jack Balkin shows, we have been through these cycles before.
From the Publisher
Jack M. Balkin is Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment at Yale Law School. He is the founder and director of Yale's Information Society Project, an interdisciplinary center that studies law and new information technologies. He also directs the Abrams Institute for Freedom of Expression, and the Knight Law and Media Program at Yale. Balkin is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is the founder and editor of the group blog Balkinization. He is the author of over one hundred thirty articles and the author or editor of fourteen books, including Democracy and Dysfunction (University of Chicago Press, with Sanford Levinson), Living Originalism (Harvard, Belknap Press), and Constitutional Redemption (Harvard).
About the Author
Jack M. Balkin is Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment at Yale Law School. He is the founder and director of Yale's Information Society Project, an interdisciplinary center that studies law and new information technologies. He also directs the Abrams Institute for Freedom of Expression, and the Knight Law and Media Program at Yale. Balkin is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is the founder and editor of the group blog Balkinization. He is the author of over one hundred thirty articles and the author or editor of fourteen books, including Democracy and Dysfunction (University of Chicago Press, with Sanford Levinson), Living Originalism (Harvard, Belknap Press), and Constitutional Redemption (Harvard).
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