Table of Contents

1. The Allure of Interpretivism 2. The Impossibility of a Clause-Bound Interpretivism 3. Discovering Fundamental Values 4. Policing the Process of Representation: The Court as Referee 5. Clearing the Channels of Political Change 6. Facilitating the Representation of Minorities Conclusion Notes Index

About the Author

John Hart Ely was Robert E. Paradise Professor of Law, Stanford Law School.

Reviews

John Ely takes a fresh and bold look at one of our oldest national mysteries, the justification for judicial power in a democracy. He slices away at some of my favorite legal theories, and he is devastating. But he does it with such understanding and even humor that it seems not bloody but enlightening.
*New York Times*

We are dealing, ladies and gentlemen, with a truly stylish mind in Mr. Ely. Even if one rejects his argument…one cannot fail to enjoy the intellectual zest with which he tackles a host of issues, large and small, along the way… Ely’s mere presence on the scene is almost enough to guarantee a stimulating period in constitutional theory during the years to come.
*National Review*

Wry, witty, and endowed with both dignity and informality. Would that more lawyers (including judges) could write half so well.
*New York Times Book Review*

Democracy and Distrust will have a wide influence for a long time… Ely writes simply and engagingly with a sense of humor. Yet the reader had better keep his wits about him lest he miss the subtleties. Much of the charm is in the author’s candor in facing hard questions. Much of it lies in his good common sense.
*Harvard Law Review*

This is the most important book about law in at least fifteen years. It is a great book… In developing his new and exciting theory, Ely spins off important insights like sparks from a generator.
*New York Law Journal*

This is the rare book that lives up to its dust-cover raves.
*Andrew L. Kaufman, Harvard Law School*

The single most important contribution to the American theory of judicial review written in this century.
*Henry P. Monaghan, Columbia Law School*