This is the second edition of Professor Tushnet's short critical
introduction to the history and current meaning of the United States'
Constitution. It is organised around wo themes: first, the US
Constitution is old, short, and difficult to amend. Second, the
Constitution creates a structure of political opportunities that allows
political actors, icluding political parties, to pursue the preferred
policy goals even to the point of altering the very structure of
politics. Deploying these themes to examine the structure f the national
government, federalism, judicial review, and individual rights, the book
provides basic information about, and deeper insights into, the way he
US constitutional system has developed and what it means today.