"As one of a handful of journalists allowed in the courtroom, for 23 days Jonathan Alter sat just feet away from the most dangerous threat to democracy in American history, watching the spectacle of the century: the felony trial of Donald Trump. Highly publicized but untelevised and thus largely hidden from public view, this landmark trial offered hope of real justice amid a grueling eight-year national ordeal and foreshadowed the drama of the 2024 presidential election. Alter shares everything he witnessed--from eviscerating takes on the colorful characters to the chilling legal ups and downs--to offer a barbed account of the trial and its aftermath, including fresh reporting about the historic events of the summer of 2024. A Zelig of journalism experiencing a crisis of faith in the good sense of the American people, Alter chronicles the shaping of his political consciousness and his bracing, unpredictable relationships with Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John McCain, and Joe Biden, whose decision to stand down in favor of former prosecutor Kamala Harris put the criminal trial front and center as Americans render their own verdict at the polls."--

"Designed as a coursebook for use in law school teaching, this book introduces basic debates over what a constitution is and does, the nature of comparison, and the relationship(s) of constitutions to constitutionalism in its various forms. It explores how constitutions are made and changed, including recent applications of "unconstitutional constitutional amendment" doctrines, and the role of different institutions - legislatures, executives, publics, as well as courts - in constitutional interpretation and constitutional change. Following a detailed study of the structure and interpretive approaches of national apex courts that decide constitutional questions, it goes on to consider six subject areas of importance in contemporary constitutionalism: separation of powers and emergencies; federalism and related consociational constitutional arrangements; equality and pluralism; religion; free expressions; and positive rights or duties. The book emphasizes the need to understand the broader sociolegal contexts in which constitutional design and decisions occur, with excerpts of cases and scholarly material from every region in the world-from the Global South as well as Europe and North America. New materials since the Third Edition include expanded discussions of abusive constitutionalism, authoritarianism, and illiberalism; more systematic treatment of informal "conventions" or norms; responses of different constitutional actors to COVID-19; expanded treatment of gender equality and LGBTQ+ issues; and materials on indigenous peoples and on rights of nature"--