Overview

The American system of law has experienced a quiet revolution that has gone largely unnoticed by political scientists and legal scholars. The change that has occurred— the abandonment of the common law foundation on which the American judicial system was built—has important consequences for democratic politics in the United States and abroad. Dismantling American Common Law: Liberty and Justice in Our Transformed Courts tracks the development of the American common law through historical and quantitative analysis and a philosophical inquiry of the founding. Author Kyle Scott seeks to reclaim this lost tradition of common law, which was vital as a legitimizing force and consensus-building mechanism at the American founding and will grow in importance for newly democratizing nations around the world.

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9780739123775

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America's abandonment of its original legal-political tradition is a timely topic, given concerns about the judicializing of politics and how to foster the rule of law in our democratic era. The eclipse of the traditional common law in academia and the courts removes a pillar of constitutional democracy. Kyle Scott shows that this is the crucial missing context for our debates about powerful lawyers and litigation, and about judicial activism. Students of law, judicial power, and political development will profit from this display that old ideas and authors guide the spirit of current policies and disputes.--Carrese, Paul

Author Information

Kyle Scott is assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of North Florida.

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