Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2019 - Social & Behavioral Sciences — Political Science — International Relations

In this ambitious and well-researched book, Kersch has at least two related goals. First, to demonstrate how conservative constitutional thought goes beyond a monolithic originalism; instead, he identifies a diverse set of ideas and arguments operating throughout the postwar period often far outside the nation's law schools. Second, to show how the restoration of constitutional principles was, and remains, a guiding principle of the American Right, bringing together diverse constituencies in support of conservative politicians and issues. A particular strength of the book is a long chapter detailing different strands of constitutional thought in conservative writings, highlighting forgotten figures like the Georgetown professor (and Straussian) Martin Diamond. Also noteworthy are a series of chapters that offer constitutional "stories" told by different conservative constituencies, from Roman Catholics to free market capitalists. Not everything here works; the anti-communist stories identified seem poorly connected to constitutional debates, and a short chapter on the "archipelago" of conservative idea institutions is not terribly useful--similar accounts are better presented elsewhere. Still, this book makes an important contribution. Kersch promises not just one but two future sequels focused on conservative arguments on specific constitutional issues. If this initial volume is any indication, both will be essential reading.Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

Spoo (Univ. of Tulsa) explains that the "socio" plays a definitive role in sociolegal studies, and modernism helps us explore critical legal issues. Spoo examines the aspects of modernism in the law, noting there is a two-way road regarding how law affects society and how society affects law. Each of the five chapters provides contextual inquiries. As Spoo discusses Oscar Wilde and obscenity, it is clear he is dissecting ways in which the law helps provide legitimacy to the power of hierarchies in place. Of course, this also means that those legal hierarchies are able to maintain their structures of power for additional periods of time, even during times of social upheaval. Ultimately, this means that the notion of modernism and law needs to broaden its reach, particularly by addressing the philosophical underpinnings of law. For legal scholars interested in the general topic of modernism and the law, this book provides some detailed and dense information that may help serve as an introduction. What Spoo does in the book is provide a balance between the theoretical foundation necessary to best understand modernism and numerous examples of how it connects to law. For those interested in understanding the study of socio- and sociolegal studies and beyond, this book is invaluable.Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

Natapoff (UC Irvine) reveals the abusive nature of the approximately 13 million misdemeanors filed annually across the US against alleged jaywalkers, trespassers, parking-meter violators, unsafe drivers, cannabis users, and other petty offenders. Through compelling case studies and carefully researched data drawn from multiple sources, Natapoff (Snitching: Criminal Informants and the Erosion of American Justice, CH, Jul'10, 47-6543) demonstrates how the prosecution of misdemeanor cases often leads to innocent defendants pleading guilty, thereby potentially ruining opportunities for successful immigration status, meaningful employment, housing availability, and earning potential. Moreover, Natapoff demonstrates the disproportionate, harmful, and lasting impact on marginalized people, especially poor people and people of color. Arguably, the most egregious constitutional violation is the significant number of defendants appearing before judges without a defense lawyer. Judges are not always lawyers themselves, and often the only government representative is the police officer who made the initial arrest. Natapoff offers useful solutions that will require not only substantial funding but also, and more important, compassionate and innovative ways of thinking from an already suspect criminal justice system. An essential contribution to the fields of criminology and sociology.Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

Andrea Bonnicksen once deftly described the civil liberties featured in the Constitution's first 10 amendments as having both "inter-liberty" and "intra-liberty" gradations. Courts treat some liberties as more fundamental than others, and differentiate modes of any particular liberty as well. In practicing judicial review, courts create (or recognize) such distinctions through levels of "scrutiny." Government action alleged to impinge the most protected liberties receive "strict" scrutiny, demanding a reversed presumption of constitutionality and requiring the government to demonstrate sufficiently narrow tailoring to a "compelling interest." Similar reasoning and standards are applied to civil rights, where de jure "suspect classification" is subjected to strict scrutiny. But this doctrine is nowhere found in the Constitution and was not a part of any jurisprudential tradition until it began its gradual articulation under the Warren Court. Fallon (Harvard) has written an excellent analytic history of its origin and continuing development, and presents his own theoretical considerations and recommendations, which are cogent, thorough, and often quite convincing. Close reading is required, intellectually and physically (the type is quite small), but the effort is worth it. Every student of constitutional law should probably read this book, and soon.Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

This is an intense analysis of a dense subject within the discipline of international political economics and international relations, namely that ambiguity provides the basis for hybrid authority to operate transnationally in the functioning of the regulation of standards. Graz (Univ. of Lausanne, Switzerland) presents a well-researched and -studied examination of how standards in the expanded phenomenon of globalization has an impact on the international service industry. Focus is provided with a case study of the institutional environment of the insurance industry and how outsourcing is conducted in India. Graz argues that standards form a transnational hybrid authority with ambiguity serving as a major attribute, affecting how both private and public actors gain access and control over standardization and its regulation as well as the parameters by which the subject matter is concerned. He notes the importance of the International Organization for Standards (ISO) in setting out the technical requirements for standardization of services. This is a study of an arcane element within the general discipline of international political economy that would be appropriate to a narrow readership but essential for those so interested.Summing Up: Essential. Graduate students through faculty.