A Court Divided: The Rehnquist Court and the Future of Constitutional Law

Many think that the Rehnquist Court’s most important division is between its liberals and its conservatives, when in reality the division lies between two types of Republican conservatives. Some—Rehnquist, Scalia, and Thomas—are in tune with the modern post-Reagan Republican Party, while Kennedy and O’Connor, considered to be in the Court’s center, represent an older Republican tradition. As a result, the Court has modestly promoted the economic agenda of today’s conservatives but has regularly defeated the conservatives’ agenda of social issues.

One of America’s finest professors of constitutional law, Mark Tushnet narrates the dramas of the Court—both intellectual and personal—with clarity and flair. In this authoritative analysis of the most important cases decided by the Rehnquist Court, he reveals how the decisions of these divided justices have left the future of the Court—and the nation—hanging in the balance with all depending on the next court appointments after the elections in November.