The Vote

Though George W. Bush took office in January, the nation is still recovering from the prolonged and complex process by which he was elected. The Florida electoral controversy and the subsequent decisions by both the Florida courts and the US Supreme Court left citizens and scholars alike divided over the role of the judiciary in the electoral arena. Now, after several months of reflection, leading constitutional scholars - Cass R. Sunstein, Richard A. Epstein, Pamela S. Karlan, Richard A. Posner and John Yoo, among others - weigh in on the Supreme Court's actions, which still seem sensible, legally legitimate and pragmatically defensible to some and an egregious abuse of power to others. Representing the full spectrum of views and arguments, "The Vote" offers the most timely and considered guide to the ultimate consequences and significance of the Supreme Court's decision. The contributors to this volume were highly visible in the national media while the controversy raged, and here they present fully fleshed-out arguments for the positions they promoted on the airwaves. Readers should find in "The Vote" equally impassioned defences for and indictments of the Court's actions, and they should come to understand the practical and theoretical implications of the Court's ruling in the realms of both law and politics. No doubt a spate of books will appear on the 2000 presidential election, but none will claim as distinguished a roster of contributors better qualified to place these recent events in their appropriate historical, legal and political contexts.