ACS Reading Group Winter Quarter Meeting

This quarter, we will be discussing 2 different works: first, we’ll look at chapters 4 and 5 of Democracy and Distrust, by former SLS Dean John Hart Ely. Democracy and Distrust was one of the most widely cited legal works in the last decades of the 20th century and lays out a “representation-reinforcing” theory of constitutional interpretation (sometimes called the political process theory).

Second, we will discuss Roe Rage: Democratic Constitutionalism and Backlash by Robert Post and Reva Siegel. This 2007 piece deeply explores the important interplay between judicial constitutional interpretation, and that of the people and political branches. Moreover, its discussion of backlash and norm contestation will be helpful in guiding progressive legal action in the coming years.

To attend this event please, RSVP here.

If you are interested in getting a full copy of Democracy and Distrust in preparation for the reading group, please contact me (jaingrao@stanford.edu); it may be within our budget to provide copies.