Preserving the Constitution

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Publisher : Fordham Univ Press
ISBN 13 : 9780823225545
Total Pages : 342 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (255 download)

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Book Synopsis Preserving the Constitution by : Michael Les Benedict

Download or read book Preserving the Constitution written by Michael Les Benedict and published by Fordham Univ Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Americans' ideas about constitutional liberty played a crucial role in the history of Reconstruction. They provided the basis for the Republican program of equal rights; ironically, they also set the limits to that program and reduced the prospects for its success. Americans were as concerned with preserving the Constitution as they were with changing it to protect liberty and equal rights. These two commitments were in profound tension. The question was how one could change the constitutional system to fulfill the promise of the Declaration of Independence--to entrench a republic dedicated to liberty instead of slavery--and yet preserve the essentials of federalism and local democracy. Almost 150 years later we still struggle with these problems." --Michael Les Benedict, from the Introduction Historians and legal scholars continue to confront the failure of Reconstruction, exploring the interaction of pervasive racism with widespread commitments to freedom and equality. In this important book, one of America's leading historians confronts the constitutional politics of the period from the end of the Civil War until 1877. Benedict updates ten of his classic essays that explore the way Republicans tried to replace the slaveholding republic with a nation dedicated to freedom and equality of basic legal and political rights--and how Americans' constitutional commitments, and those of Republicans themselves, limited reform. Expertly bridging legal, political, party history, the essays explore the fate of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, as well as the struggle between President and Congress over the course of Reconstruction. Brought together for the first time with a new introduction, and revised to reflect emerging scholarship, the essays are essential points of departure for students and scholars in history, law, and political science.

Keeping Faith with the Constitution

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199752834
Total Pages : 274 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (997 download)

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Book Synopsis Keeping Faith with the Constitution by : Goodwin Liu

Download or read book Keeping Faith with the Constitution written by Goodwin Liu and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010-08-05 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chief Justice John Marshall argued that a constitution "requires that only its great outlines should be marked [and] its important objects designated." Ours is "intended to endure for ages to come, and consequently, to be adapted to the various crises of human affairs." In recent years, Marshall's great truths have been challenged by proponents of originalism and strict construction. Such legal thinkers as Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia argue that the Constitution must be construed and applied as it was when the Framers wrote it. In Keeping Faith with the Constitution, three legal authorities make the case for Marshall's vision. They describe their approach as "constitutional fidelity"--not to how the Framers would have applied the Constitution, but to the text and principles of the Constitution itself. The original understanding of the text is one source of interpretation, but not the only one; to preserve the meaning and authority of the document, to keep it vital, applications of the Constitution must be shaped by precedent, historical experience, practical consequence, and societal change. The authors range across the history of constitutional interpretation to show how this approach has been the source of our greatest advances, from Brown v. Board of Education to the New Deal, from the Miranda decision to the expansion of women's rights. They delve into the complexities of voting rights, the malapportionment of legislative districts, speech freedoms, civil liberties and the War on Terror, and the evolution of checks and balances. The Constitution's framers could never have imagined DNA, global warming, or even women's equality. Yet these and many more realities shape our lives and outlook. Our Constitution will remain vital into our changing future, the authors write, if judges remain true to this rich tradition of adaptation and fidelity.

The Heritage Guide to the Constitution

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Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1621573524
Total Pages : 644 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (215 download)

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Book Synopsis The Heritage Guide to the Constitution by : David F. Forte

Download or read book The Heritage Guide to the Constitution written by David F. Forte and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-09-16 with total page 644 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A landmark work of more than one hundred scholars, The Heritage Guide to the Constitution is a unique line-by-line analysis explaining every clause of America's founding charter and its contemporary meaning. In this fully revised second edition, leading scholars in law, history, and public policy offer more than two hundred updated and incisive essays on every clause of the Constitution. From the stirring words of the Preamble to the Twenty-seventh Amendment, you will gain new insights into the ideas that made America, important debates that continue from our Founding, and the Constitution's true meaning for our nation

Before the Next Attack

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Publisher : Yale University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780300122664
Total Pages : 248 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (226 download)

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Book Synopsis Before the Next Attack by : Bruce A. Ackerman

Download or read book Before the Next Attack written by Bruce A. Ackerman and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2007-01-01 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Also includes information on aftermath of terrorist attack, Al Qaeda, George W. Bush, civil liberties, U.S. Congress, U.S. Constitution, courts, detainees, detention, due process, emergency constitution, emergency powers, emergency regime, existential crisis, extraordinary powers, Founding Fathers, framework statutes, freedom, habeas corpus writ, Iraq war, Abraham Lincoln, Jose Padilla, panic reaction, precedents of presidential powers, presidency, president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, rule of law, second strike, Second World War, secrecy, seizure, September 11, 2001, state of emergency, supermajoritarian escalator, terrorist attack, torture, United Kingdom, etc.

The Living Constitution

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199703698
Total Pages : 171 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (997 download)

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Book Synopsis The Living Constitution by : David A. Strauss

Download or read book The Living Constitution written by David A. Strauss and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010-05-19 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia once remarked that the theory of an evolving, "living" Constitution effectively "rendered the Constitution useless." He wanted a "dead Constitution," he joked, arguing it must be interpreted as the framers originally understood it. In The Living Constitution, leading constitutional scholar David Strauss forcefully argues against the claims of Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Robert Bork, and other "originalists," explaining in clear, jargon-free English how the Constitution can sensibly evolve, without falling into the anything-goes flexibility caricatured by opponents. The living Constitution is not an out-of-touch liberal theory, Strauss further shows, but a mainstream tradition of American jurisprudence--a common-law approach to the Constitution, rooted in the written document but also based on precedent. Each generation has contributed precedents that guide and confine judicial rulings, yet allow us to meet the demands of today, not force us to follow the commands of the long-dead Founders. Strauss explores how judicial decisions adapted the Constitution's text (and contradicted original intent) to produce some of our most profound accomplishments: the end of racial segregation, the expansion of women's rights, and the freedom of speech. By contrast, originalism suffers from fatal flaws: the impossibility of truly divining original intent, the difficulty of adapting eighteenth-century understandings to the modern world, and the pointlessness of chaining ourselves to decisions made centuries ago. David Strauss is one of our leading authorities on Constitutional law--one with practical knowledge as well, having served as Assistant Solicitor General of the United States and argued eighteen cases before the United States Supreme Court. Now he offers a profound new understanding of how the Constitution can remain vital to life in the twenty-first century.

The Broken Constitution

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Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN 13 : 0374720878
Total Pages : 236 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (747 download)

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Book Synopsis The Broken Constitution by : Noah Feldman

Download or read book The Broken Constitution written by Noah Feldman and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2021-11-02 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice An innovative account of Abraham Lincoln, constitutional thinker and doer Abraham Lincoln is justly revered for his brilliance, compassion, humor, and rededication of the United States to achieving liberty and justice for all. He led the nation into a bloody civil war to uphold the system of government established by the US Constitution—a system he regarded as the “last best hope of mankind.” But how did Lincoln understand the Constitution? In this groundbreaking study, Noah Feldman argues that Lincoln deliberately and recurrently violated the United States’ founding arrangements. When he came to power, it was widely believed that the federal government could not use armed force to prevent a state from seceding. It was also assumed that basic civil liberties could be suspended in a rebellion by Congress but not by the president, and that the federal government had no authority over slavery in states where it existed. As president, Lincoln broke decisively with all these precedents, and effectively rewrote the Constitution’s place in the American system. Before the Civil War, the Constitution was best understood as a compromise pact—a rough and ready deal between states that allowed the Union to form and function. After Lincoln, the Constitution came to be seen as a sacred text—a transcendent statement of the nation’s highest ideals. The Broken Constitution is the first book to tell the story of how Lincoln broke the Constitution in order to remake it. To do so, it offers a riveting narrative of his constitutional choices and how he made them—and places Lincoln in the rich context of thinking of the time, from African American abolitionists to Lincoln’s Republican rivals and Secessionist ideologues. Includes 8 Pages of Black-and-White Illustrations

The Story of the Constitution

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781258957049
Total Pages : 194 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (57 download)

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Book Synopsis The Story of the Constitution by : Sol Bloom

Download or read book The Story of the Constitution written by Sol Bloom and published by . This book was released on 2013-10 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a new release of the original 1937 edition.

Saving the News

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190948418
Total Pages : 257 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (99 download)

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Book Synopsis Saving the News by : Martha Minow

Download or read book Saving the News written by Martha Minow and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "As traditional for-profit news media in the United States declines in economic viability and sheer numbers of outlets and staff, what does and what should the constitutional guarantee of freedom of the press mean? The book examines the current news ecosystem in the U.S. and chronicles historical developments in government involvement in shaping the industry. It argues that initiatives by the government and by private-sector actors are not only permitted but called for as transformations in technology, economics, and communications jeopardize the production and distribution of and trust in news and the very existence of local news reporting. It presents ten proposals for change to help preserve the free press essential to our democratic society"--

More Like Us

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Publisher : Mariner Books
ISBN 13 : 9780395528105
Total Pages : 258 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (281 download)

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Book Synopsis More Like Us by : James M. Fallows

Download or read book More Like Us written by James M. Fallows and published by Mariner Books. This book was released on 1989 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More Like Us is a celebration of American openness to immigration and aspiration and a skeptic's tour of the rigidity of Asian societies. Fallows is the author of the highly acclaimed National Defense.

Our Secret Constitution

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780198032434
Total Pages : 308 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (324 download)

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Book Synopsis Our Secret Constitution by : George P. Fletcher

Download or read book Our Secret Constitution written by George P. Fletcher and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2003-01-16 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Americans hate and distrust their government. At the same time, Americans love and trust their government. These contradictory attitudes are resolved by Fletcher's novel interpretation of constitutional history. He argues that we have two constitutions--still living side by side--one that caters to freedom and fear, the other that satisfied our needs for security and social justice. The first constitution came into force in 1789. It stresses freedom, voluntary association, and republican elitism. The second constitution begins with the Gettysburg Address and emphasizes equality, organic nationhood, and popular democracy. These radical differences between our two constitutions explain our ambivalence and self-contradictory attitudes toward government. With September 11 the second constitution--which Fletcher calls the Secret Constitution--has become ascendant. When America is under threat, the nation cultivates its solidarity. It overcomes its fear and looks to government for protection and the pursuit of social justice. Lincoln's messages of a strong government and a nation that must "long endure" have never been more relevant to American politics. "Fletcher's argument has intriguing implications beyond the sweeping subject of this profoundly thought-provoking book."--The Denver Post

The Lives of the Constitution

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Publisher : Encounter Books
ISBN 13 : 1641770635
Total Pages : 210 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (417 download)

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Book Synopsis The Lives of the Constitution by : Joseph Tartakovsky

Download or read book The Lives of the Constitution written by Joseph Tartakovsky and published by Encounter Books. This book was released on 2019-10-08 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a fascinating blend of biography and history, Joseph Tartakovsky tells the epic and unexpected story of our Constitution through the eyes of ten extraordinary individuals—some renowned, like Alexander Hamilton and Woodrow Wilson, and some forgotten, like James Wilson and Ida B. Wells-Barnett. Tartakovsky brings to life their struggles over our supreme law from its origins in revolutionary America to the era of Obama and Trump. Sweeping from settings as diverse as Gold Rush California to the halls of Congress, and crowded with a vivid Dickensian cast, Tartakovsky shows how America’s unique constitutional culture grapples with questions like democracy, racial and sexual equality, free speech, economic liberty, and the role of government. Joining the ranks of other great American storytellers, Tartakovsky chronicles how Daniel Webster sought to avert the Civil War; how Alexis de Tocqueville misunderstood America; how Robert Jackson balanced liberty and order in the battle against Nazism and Communism; and how Antonin Scalia died warning Americans about the ever-growing reach of the Supreme Court. From the 1787 Philadelphia Convention to the clash over gay marriage, this is a grand tour through two centuries of constitutional history as never told before, and an education in the principles that sustain America in the most astonishing experiment in government ever undertaken.

The Madisonian Constitution

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Publisher : JHU Press
ISBN 13 : 0801888522
Total Pages : 263 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (18 download)

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Book Synopsis The Madisonian Constitution by : George Thomas

Download or read book The Madisonian Constitution written by George Thomas and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2008-06-18 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Publisher Description

No Treason (Volume 1)

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Publisher : Read Books Ltd
ISBN 13 : 1447488903
Total Pages : 70 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (474 download)

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Book Synopsis No Treason (Volume 1) by : Lysander Spooner

Download or read book No Treason (Volume 1) written by Lysander Spooner and published by Read Books Ltd. This book was released on 2013-03-05 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published in 1870, this essay by the American anarchist and political philosopher Lysander Spooner is here reproduced. Described by Murray Rothbard as "the greatest case for anarchist political philosophy ever written", Spooner's lengthy essay is still referenced by anarchists and philosophers today. In it, he argues that the American Civil War violated the US Constitution, thus rendering it null and void. An indispensable read for political historians both amateur and professional alike. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

A More Perfect Constitution

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Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 0802777562
Total Pages : 353 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (27 download)

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Book Synopsis A More Perfect Constitution by : Larry J. Sabato

Download or read book A More Perfect Constitution written by Larry J. Sabato and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2010-07-23 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The reader can't help but hold out hope that maybe someday, some of these sweeping changes could actually bring the nation's government out of its intellectual quagmire...his lively, conversational tone and compelling examples make the reader a more than willing student for this updated civics lesson." --The Hill The political book of the year, from the acclaimed founder and director of the Center for politics at the University of Virginia. A More Perfect Constitution presents creative and dynamic proposals from one of the most visionary and fertile political minds of our time to reinvigorate our Constitution and American governance at a time when such change is urgently needed, given the growing dysfunction and unfairness of our political system . Combining idealism and pragmatism, and with full respect for the original document, Larry Sabato's thought-provoking ideas range from the length of the president's term in office and the number and terms of Supreme Court justices to the vagaries of the antiquated Electoral College, and a compelling call for universal national service-all laced through with the history behind each proposal and the potential impact on the lives of ordinary people. Aware that such changes won't happen easily, but that the original Framers fully expected the Constitution to be regularly revised, Sabato urges us to engage in the debate and discussion his ideas will surely engender. During an election year, no book is more relevant or significant than this.

How to Read the Constitution—and Why

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Publisher : HarperCollins
ISBN 13 : 0062896318
Total Pages : 449 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (628 download)

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Book Synopsis How to Read the Constitution—and Why by : Kim Wehle

Download or read book How to Read the Constitution—and Why written by Kim Wehle and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2019-06-25 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A must-read for this era” that lays out in common sense language how the US Constitution works, and how its protections are eroding before our eyes (Jake Tapper, CNN Anchor and Chief Washington Correspondent). The Constitution is the most significant document in America. But do you fully understand what it means to you? In How to Read the Constitution—and Why, legal expert and educator Kimberly Wehle spells out in clear, simple, and common-sense language what is in the Constitution, and most importantly, what it means. In compelling terms and including text from the United States Constitution, she describes how its protections are eroding—not only in express terms but by virtue of the many legal and social norms that no longer shore up its legitimacy—and why every American needs to heed to this “red flag” moment. This invaluable—and timely—resource includes the Constitution in its entirety and covers nearly every significant aspect of the text, from the powers of the President and how the three branches of government are designed to hold each other accountable, to what it means to have individual rights—including free speech, the right to bear arms, the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, and the right to an abortion. Finally, the book explains why it has never been more important than now for all Americans to know how our Constitution works—and why, if we don’t step in to protect it, we could lose its protections forever. How to Read the Constitution—and Why is essential reading for anyone who cares about maintaining an accountable government and the individual freedoms that the Constitution enshrines for everyone in America—regardless of political party.

Towards Juristocracy

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Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780674038677
Total Pages : 306 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (386 download)

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Book Synopsis Towards Juristocracy by : Ran Hirschl

Download or read book Towards Juristocracy written by Ran Hirschl and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-06-30 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In countries and supranational entities around the globe, constitutional reform has transferred an unprecedented amount of power from representative institutions to judiciaries. The constitutionalization of rights and the establishment of judicial review are widely believed to have benevolent and progressive origins, and significant redistributive, power-diffusing consequences. Ran Hirschl challenges this conventional wisdom. Drawing upon a comprehensive comparative inquiry into the political origins and legal consequences of the recent constitutional revolutions in Canada, Israel, New Zealand, and South Africa, Hirschl shows that the trend toward constitutionalization is hardly driven by politicians' genuine commitment to democracy, social justice, or universal rights. Rather, it is best understood as the product of a strategic interplay among hegemonic yet threatened political elites, influential economic stakeholders, and judicial leaders. This self-interested coalition of legal innovators determines the timing, extent, and nature of constitutional reforms. Hirschl demonstrates that whereas judicial empowerment through constitutionalization has a limited impact on advancing progressive notions of distributive justice, it has a transformative effect on political discourse. The global trend toward juristocracy, Hirschl argues, is part of a broader process whereby political and economic elites, while they profess support for democracy and sustained development, attempt to insulate policymaking from the vicissitudes of democratic politics.

We the People

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Publisher : Picador
ISBN 13 : 1250166004
Total Pages : 319 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (51 download)

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Book Synopsis We the People by : Erwin Chemerinsky

Download or read book We the People written by Erwin Chemerinsky and published by Picador. This book was released on 2018-11-13 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This work will become the defining text on progressive constitutionalism — a parallel to Thomas Picketty’s contribution but for all who care deeply about constitutional law. Beautifully written and powerfully argued, this is a masterpiece." --Lawrence Lessig, Harvard Law School, and author of Free Culture Worried about what a super conservative majority on the Supreme Court means for the future of civil liberties? From gun control to reproductive health, a conservative court will reshape the lives of all Americans for decades to come. The time to develop and defend a progressive vision of the U.S. Constitution that protects the rights of all people is now. University of California Berkeley Dean and respected legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky expertly exposes how conservatives are using the Constitution to advance their own agenda that favors business over consumers and employees, and government power over individual rights. But exposure is not enough. Progressives have spent too much of the last forty-five years trying to preserve the legacy of the Warren Court’s most important rulings and reacting to the Republican-dominated Supreme Courts by criticizing their erosion of rights—but have not yet developed a progressive vision for the Constitution itself. Yet, if we just look to the promise of the Preamble—liberty and justice for all—and take seriously its vision, a progressive reading of the Constitution can lead us forward as we continue our fight ensuring democratic rule, effective government, justice, liberty, and equality. Includes the Complete Constitution and Amendments of the United States of America