Abstract
This book argues for a change in our understanding of the relationships among law, politics, and history. Since the turn of the nineteenth century, a certain anti-foundational conception of history has served to undermine law's foundations, such that we tend to think of law as nothing other than a species of politics. Thus viewed, the activity of unelected, common law judges appears to be an encroachment on the space of democracy. However, Kunal M. Parker shows that the world of the nineteenth century looked rather different. Democracy was itself constrained by a sense that history possessed a logic, meaning, and direction that democracy could not contravene. In such a world, far from law being seen in opposition to democracy, it was possible to argue that law - specifically, the common law - did a better job than democracy of guiding America along history's path.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| Number of pages | 305 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9780511973963 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780521519953 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2011 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Arts and Humanities(all)
Cite this
Common law, history, and democracy in America, 1790-1900 : Legal thought before modernism. / Parker, Kunal.
Cambridge University Press, 2011. 305 p.Research output: Book/Report › Book
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TY - BOOK
T1 - Common law, history, and democracy in America, 1790-1900
T2 - Legal thought before modernism
AU - Parker, Kunal
PY - 2011/1/1
Y1 - 2011/1/1
N2 - This book argues for a change in our understanding of the relationships among law, politics, and history. Since the turn of the nineteenth century, a certain anti-foundational conception of history has served to undermine law's foundations, such that we tend to think of law as nothing other than a species of politics. Thus viewed, the activity of unelected, common law judges appears to be an encroachment on the space of democracy. However, Kunal M. Parker shows that the world of the nineteenth century looked rather different. Democracy was itself constrained by a sense that history possessed a logic, meaning, and direction that democracy could not contravene. In such a world, far from law being seen in opposition to democracy, it was possible to argue that law - specifically, the common law - did a better job than democracy of guiding America along history's path.
AB - This book argues for a change in our understanding of the relationships among law, politics, and history. Since the turn of the nineteenth century, a certain anti-foundational conception of history has served to undermine law's foundations, such that we tend to think of law as nothing other than a species of politics. Thus viewed, the activity of unelected, common law judges appears to be an encroachment on the space of democracy. However, Kunal M. Parker shows that the world of the nineteenth century looked rather different. Democracy was itself constrained by a sense that history possessed a logic, meaning, and direction that democracy could not contravene. In such a world, far from law being seen in opposition to democracy, it was possible to argue that law - specifically, the common law - did a better job than democracy of guiding America along history's path.
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84925131487&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/CBO9780511973963
DO - 10.1017/CBO9780511973963
M3 - Book
AN - SCOPUS:84925131487
SN - 9780521519953
BT - Common law, history, and democracy in America, 1790-1900
PB - Cambridge University Press
ER -