Marc Landy

Keeping the Republic is an eloquent defense of the American constitutional order and a response to its critics, including those who are estranged from the very idea of a fixed constitution in which “the living are governed by the dead.” Dennis Hale and Marc Landy take seriously the criticisms of the United States Constitution. Before mounting their argument, they present an intellectual history of the key critics, including Thomas Paine, William Lloyd Garrison, Henry David Thoreau, Woodrow Wilson, Robert Dahl, Sanford Levinson, and the authors of The 1619 Project. Why, they ask, if the constitutional order is so well-designed, do so many American citizens have a negative view of the American political order? To address that question, they examine the most crucial episodes in American political development from the Founding to the present. Hale and Landy frame their defense of the Constitution by understanding America in terms of modernity, where small republics are no longer possible and there is a need to protect the citizens of a massive modern state while still preserving liberty. The Constitution makes large, popular government possible by placing effective limits on the exercise of power. The Constitution forces the people to be governed by the dead, both to pay the debt we owe to those who came before us and to preserve society for generations yet unborn. The central argument of Keeping the Republic is that the Constitution provides for a free government because it places effective limits on the exercise of power—an essential ingredient of any good government, even one that aims to be a popular government. That the people should rule is a given among republicans; that the people can do anything they want is a proposition that no one could accept with their eyes wide open. Thus, the limits that the Constitution place on American political life are not a problem, but a solution to a problem. Hale and Landy offer both a survey of American anti-constitutionalism and a powerful argument for maintaining the constitutional order of the nation’s Framers.

To understand contemporary American politics and government students need to see how political ideas, institutions and forces have developed over time. The fourth edition of American Government dwells on the seminal role played by political memory and path dependency in shaping contemporary institutions, political forces and public opinion, as well as the critical choices that have caused them to shift course. It provides a comprehensive depiction of current demographic, political, attitudinal and governmental facts, trends and conditions. Each chapter begins with a detailed contemporary portrait of its subject.

To understand contemporary American politics and government students need to see how political ideas, institutions and forces have developed over time. The fourth edition of American Government dwells on the seminal role played by political memory and path dependency in shaping contemporary institutions, political forces and public opinion, as well as the critical choices that have caused them to shift course. It provides a comprehensive depiction of current demographic, political, attitudinal and governmental facts, trends and conditions. Each chapter begins with a detailed contemporary portrait of its subject.

This book sets out to provide a useful directory to writers, reviewers, and citizens interested in the environmental impact statement (EIS) process in the United States. Although several "environmental" directories address a narrow portion of EIS subject matter, there is no single directory that covers the wide range of agencies and organizations involved in the EIS process. Therefore, the purpose of this directory is to bring EIS-related agencies and organizations into one comprehensive reference book. EIS writing and reviewing can be improved by providing practioners with a directory that puts them quickly in touch with the national EIS net­ work. At the present time, practioners must rely on their personal, and sometimes, limited network of agencies and organizations for the exchange of information. The EIS Directory quickly connects EIS-related agencies and organizations throughout the United States at the national, regional, state, and local levels. The EIS Directory is a compilation of directories provided by members of the EIS community. A written survey of over five hundred agencies and or­ ganizations was made in 1980. The response to the survey provided a wide range of in-house directories. This book contains approximately 4,000 entries developed from over 300 documents. This book was written in the hope that it will help people communicate more easi1y--u1timately improving the quality of EIS decision making. I re­ alize the limitations of this initial edition and accept the challenge of providing a more effective reference tool in future editions.

This work argues that there has not been a truly great American President in the latter half of the 20th century. It examines five past presidencies, including Washington and Lincoln, showing what made them great and highlighting the possibilities and limitations of the office.