The Politics of Law

"I truly enjoyed The Politics of Law. It's a well-guided tour through contemporary legal academic thought, in general and critical legal studies, in particular. For lawyers--or laypersons--interested in alternative perspectives on the law and legal institutions, this book is an invaluable aid."
--Scott Turow, author of Burden of Proof and Presumed Innocent

The Politics of Law is the leading and most widely read progressive critique of the nature and role of the law in America society. This revised--and over a third entirely new--edition continues the book's concrete focus on the major subjects and fields of law. New essays on emerging fields and the latest trends and cases have been added to update versions of the now classic essays from earlier editions.

A unique assortment of leading scholars and practitioners in law and related disciplines--political science, economics, sociology, criminology, history, and literature--raise basic questions about law, challenging long-held ideas like the separation of law form politics, economics, religion, and culture. The address such issues contextually and with a keen historical perspective as they explain and critique the law in a broad range of areas.

This third edition contains essays on all of the subjects covered in the first year of law school while continuing the book's tradition of accessibility to non-law-trained readers. Insightful and powerful, The Politics of Law makes sense of the debates about judicial restraint and range of legal controversies so central to American public life and culture.