The Constitution in Jeopardy, Russ Feingold
The Constitution in Jeopardy, Russ Feingold
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The Constitution in Jeopardy
An Unprecedented Effort to Rewrite Our Fundamental Law and What We Can Do About It

Author: Russ Feingold, Peter Prindiville

Narrator: Jim Seybert, Russ Feingold, Peter Prindiville

Unabridged: 8 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: PublicAffairs

Published: 08/30/2022


Synopsis

A former U.S. senator joins a legal scholar to examine a hushed effort to radically change our Constitution, offering a warning and a way forward.Over the last two decades, a fringe plan to call a convention under the Constitution's amendment mechanism—the nation's first ever—has inched through statehouses. Delegates, like those in Philadelphia two centuries ago, would exercise nearly unlimited authority to draft changes to our fundamental law, potentially altering anything from voting and free speech rights to regulatory and foreign policy powers. Such a watershed moment would present great danger, and for some, great power.In this important book, Feingold and Prindiville distill extensive legal and historical research and examine the grave risks inherent in this effort. But they also consider the role of constitutional amendment in modern life. Though many focus solely on judicial and electoral avenues for change, such an approach is at odds with a cornerstone ideal of the Founding: that the People make constitutional law, directly. In an era defined by faction and rejection of long-held norms, The Constitution in Jeopardy examines the nature of constitutional change and asks urgent questions about what American democracy is, and should be.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Isaac on November 30, 2022

I picked up a copy of this book when the authors did a talk at a nearby bookstore. Their talk didn't excite me too much; pretty partisan and the threat seemed far fetched. I felt obligated to read it though so I set my jaw, dove in and was pleasantly surprised. The first section of the book is a lot......more

Goodreads review by Brandon on March 20, 2023

I hope the warnings of this book do not come to pass but after reading it, one cannot help but have healthy fear. Many people like Joe Scarbarough, Bill Maher, and others have spoken about the administration of the 45th President as norm-shattering in that many things taken for granted, mores, norms......more

Goodreads review by Alexis on January 07, 2023

A compelling, if not mindblowing, look into the process of amending the US Constitution and the ongoing effort by some on the far right to kick off a new constitutional convention. The authors first recount some of the history behind amending the Constitution, largely dividing it into a few bursts o......more

Goodreads review by Shana on January 25, 2023

Overall not the most THRILLING book, but a very well researched look into article V and a few historical touch points for its inception and its effects. One of the most thought-provoking sections was about our interest in federal courts as a fundamental failure of the constitution— that if we’re so......more

Goodreads review by Dave on July 22, 2023

Very interesting book and I'm a fan of Russ Feingold. But it's pretty dense and fairly wonky from a judicial perspective. No regrets...learned a lot!......more