Price of Politics - by Kyle Scott (Hardcover)

About the Book

The Price of Politics examines the historical, political, and legal heritage of the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights to come to grips with modern political developments. Using a cross-disciplinary, multi-methods approach, this book explores both the normative and the emperic...

Book Synopsis

The Price of Politics examines the historical, political, and legal heritage of the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights to come to grips with modern political developments. Using a cross-disciplinary, multi-methods approach, this book explores both the normative and the emperical dimensions of the debate.

Review Quotes

Kelo v. City of New London kicked up a firestorm of debate and legislative reactions in its immediate aftermath. Lost in the heat of the moment was the plight of a fundamental right. Dr. Kyle remedies that deficiency by providing the reader with a substantive analysis of property rights' original constitutionally marbled pedestal and the manner and extent to which the court majority replaced that support with the quicksand of partisan politics.

An excellent historical, legal, and theoretical analysis of property rights and their place in an ordered society.... It is a bracing good read.... Recommended.

In an age when few Americans can define "right" or explain how the founding fathers defined rights, Scott's book is indispensable for a correct understanding of rights and how property rights are inextricably linked to all rights. The erosion of the former leads to the erosion of the latter. No less important, Professor Scott uses Lockean thought as the key to understanding what the founders meant by property rights and examines the Kelo decision to reveal how far modern-day courts have strayed from the original intent.

About the Author

Kyle Scott is assistant professor of political science at the University of North Florida and author of Dismantling American Common Law: Liberty and Justice in Our Transformed Courts.