Bush v. Gore and the French Revolution: A Tentative List of Some Early Lessons

Levinson examines the Supreme Court's decision in "Bush v. Gore" as an entry-point into understanding American constitutional culture. "Law," as people ordinarily think of it, may be much less important than people might believe (or hope) with regard to controlling politics. But "law" in another way may have Americans gripped within a constitutional iron cage that makes it next to impossible to engage in a cogent discussion of what might ail contemporary American polity and, concomitantly, what might be needed by way of reforms.