In this thought-provoking polemic, "an accomplished iconoclast" whose "knowledge of american history is as persuasive as his wit" (New York Times Book Review) blames america's outmoded constitutional system of checks and balances for the political malaise and governmental gridlock of recent years. Index. This description may be from another edition of this product.
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PoetryPeople calling Lazare a socialist are the ones who obviously don't know the Constitution or its formation. The Founders, after the Preamble, mentioned Congress first, in Article II, because the envisioned -- and PLANNED and DESIRED -- that Congress be the strongest and pre-eminent of the three brances, ideas of "checks and balances" notwithstanding. Today's "executive presidency," going to war without explicit Congressional...
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Lazare has hit the nail on the head. Everyone is always complaining about the government, and yet, the system by which that very government is ruled is considered holy. How can this be?Real reform, and the only reform that can snatch our government away from the big money handlers that are running it now, is only possible from the ground up. That means that you cannot expect that a little tinkering will fix it. You have to...
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Lazare makes a very original argument (so original that, clearly, it went right over the heads of several of the reviewers on this site). What Lazare is arguing is not-as some seem to think-ideological, per se. Rather, he is arguing structure. The rights that the Constitution was designed to protect is not the question; the question is whether the structure set up by the Constitution is effective in that protection. More importantly,...
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This is an intelligent, reasonable exploration of the problems with the American governmental system. It is certainly not perfect; any effort so ambitious that it tries to cover the history of Constitutional governments for the last 600 years is bound to overreach. But Lazare does a nice job of producing a readable, rational hypothesis as to what's ailing the USA and of suggesting some solutions. The simple fact...
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Daniel Lazar's book is a literate, powerful, critical, and insightful commentary on the extent to which the structure of the US Constitution has guided American history for the past two centuries. Beginning with the Elizabethan era of Britain, Lazar uses historical examples and astute analysis to reveal the true motivations behind the founding fathers in constructing the document that shaped this nation. Departing far from...
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