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Terrorist attacks regularly trigger the
enactment of repressive laws, setting in motion a vicious
cycle that threatens to devastate civil liberties over the
twenty-first century. In this clear-sighted book, Bruce
Ackerman peers into the future and presents an intuitive,
practical alternative. He proposes an "emergency constitution"
that enables government to take extraordinary actions to
prevent a second strike in the short run while prohibiting
permanent measures that destroy our freedom over the long
run.
Ackerman's "emergency constitution
exposes the dangers lurking behind the popular notion that
we are fighting a "war on terror." He criticizes
court opinions that have adopted the war framework, showing
how they uncritically accept extreme presidential claims
to sweeping powers. Instead of expanding the authority of
the commander in chief, the courts should encourage new
forms of checks and balances that allow for decisive, but
carefully controlled presidential action during emergencies.
In making his case, Ackerman explores emergency provisions
in constitutions of nations ranging from France to South
Africa, borrowing some useful aspects and adapting others.
He shows that no country today is well equipped to both
fend off terrorists and preserve fundamental liberties,
drawing particular attention to recent British reactions
to terrorist attacks. Written for thoughtful citizens throughout
the world, this book is democracy's constitutional reply
to political excess in the sinister era of terrorism.
Bruce Ackerman is Sterling Professor
of Law and Political Science, Yale University, and the author
or coauthor of more than fifteen books on political philosophy,
constitutional law, and public policy, including The
Stakeholder Society (with Anne Alstott), Voting with
Dollars (with Ian Ayres), and Deliberation Day (with
James S. Fishkin), all published by Yale University Press.
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