The new constitutional order /

While the US has had but one constitution since 1787, it has had several constitutional orders in that time. For Tushnet (law, Georgetown Univ.), a constitutional order refers to a reasonably stable set of political institutions that guide the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Constitution. From the 1930s until recently, New Deal principles and institutions shaped Supreme Court decision making, but a new constitutional order is afoot, ushered in since approximately 1980 with the election of President Reagan. This order, according to the author, so far has not completely rejected the New Deal, but instead has trimmed it around the edges, producing a downsizing or "New Deal Light." In documenting this new order under Chief Justice Rehnquist's tenure on the Court, Tushet describes how the power of Congress to regulate commerce, states, and individual rights has been reduced, and what that minimalizing of national power portends in the future. Yet as the new order consolidates and new justices are appointed, the trimming of the New Deal principles might accelerate production of even more radical political and constitutional changes. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. General readers and upper-division undergraduates and above interested in law, American politics, and the courts. D. Schultz Hamline University