Books in the Teaching Texts in Law and Politics series

Liberal Constitutionalism, Marriage, and Sexual Orientation: A Contemporary Case for Dis-Establishment uses constitutional theory and political philosophy to shed light on an elusive feature of American jurisprudence: the establishment of a sectarian preference in the law to the detriment of American citizens who happen to be gay or lesbian and who wish to exercise their fundamental right to marry. Reviewing aspects of liberal-democratic theory, marriage law, and pertinent analogies that deal with the right to marry, Gordon Albert Babst presents the notion of the «shadow establishment,» which makes the best sense of a constitutional affirmation of bias against same-sex marriage and gay persons in the law.

The Essential Concept of Law provides an overview of law from both a theoretical and practical perspective. It begins with the most fundamental categories of legal ideas and heritages and then proceeds to explore increasingly narrow and specialized understandings, including the relationship of law to Western ideologies, the concept of tribal law, the relationship of law and religion, the common law and civil law systems, and an explanation of essential legal categories, such as property, contract, punishment, and rights and liberties. This book also explores other, equally fundamental subjects that give law its overall meaning, structure, and purpose, especially within its broader political, philosophical, and social context.