Description: The book focuses on the revival of "nullificationist," or even "secessionist," arguments, both in the United States and abroad, relative to the authority of national institutions, including courts, over dissenting subnational units or groups of individual citizens.
Brief description: Sanford Levinson is W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr. Centennial Chair in Law at the University of Texas School of Law and professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of many books, including Framed: America's 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance.
Review Quotes:
"This is a fascinating set of essays on the supposedly obsolete doctrine of nullification, and its political cousin, secession. Filled with historical and comparative insights, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in American federalism and federal systems generally."--Jack M. Balkin, Yale Law School
"Sanford Levinson has assembled a probing set of contributions on a fascinating topic that is of immediate interest and has historical resonance. An outstanding group of scholars examines principled resistance to a constitutional order from many different angles, including useful comparative perspectives."--Stephen Griffin, author of Broken Trust: Dysfunctional Government and Constitutional Reform
"Secession and nullification are ghosts that haunt us still. In this stimulating set of essays, constitutional experts examine just how far the states may go to resist federal law." --Gerard Magliocca, author of American Founding Son: John Bingham and the Invention of the Fourteenth Amendment