In American Constitutionalism, Third Edition, renowned authors Howard Gillman, Mark A. Graber, and Keith E. Whittington offer an innovative approach to the two-semester Constitutional Law sequence (Volume 1 covers Institutions and Volume II covers Rights and Liberties) that presents the material in a historical organization within each volume, as opposed to the typical issues-based organization. Looking at Supreme Court decisions historically provides an opportunity for instructors to teach--and for students to reflect on--the political factions and climate of the day. The third edition has been updated through the 2020 SCOTUS session, and features updated cases, analysis, illustrations, and figures.
[Before this title] I had yet to see a constitutional law textbook that clicked with me...For me, its primary strength is in the way it integrates law and politics. Too many constitutional law textbooks before this spent too little attention to the political factors that surround and shape constitutional law. It very self consciously treats both law and politics as significant dynamics and contributors to the evolution of constitutional law...Much of my graduate training and scholarship since emphasized the interrelationship between political and legal institutions, actors, and dynamics. Politics shapes law; law shapes politics. As part of this, I appreciate that the text emphasizes that constitutional and statutory law is usually the result of lengthy debates and that constitutional law happens in locations other than the Supreme Court."
