A groundbreaking investigation into the ways that the American people govern themselves under a Constitution more than two centuries old. As the Constitution enters its third century, controversies about its meaning and application continue to preoccupy us, as do controversies over proposals to change its wording or meaning. After 27 amendments and 12,000 attempts to do so, the Constitution is continually on trial as it functions as the core of the American constitutional system. Constitutional Change on Trial shows exactly how alterations to our nation's fundamental law have occurred through three major methods-custom and usage, judicial interpretation, and amendment.;Each method, as this unique reference reveals, has inevitably posed problems that have not only generated trials but have united the American people in national discussions about the strengths and weaknesses of their form of government. Using election 2000 as a modern-day example, other key developments, from the Bill of Rights and Dred Scott v. Sanford to Brown v. Board of Education and United States v. Nixonare used to illustrate how Americans have continued to adapt their Constitution to address new problems and changing times.
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