Variously and roundly perceived as gridlocked, incompetent, irresponsible, and corrupt, American government commands less respect and trust today than perhaps at any time in the nation's history. But the dysfunction in government that we like so little, along with the policy disasters it engenders, is in fact a product of that deep and persistent distrust, Stephen M. Griffin contends in Broken Trust, an accessible work of constitutional theory and history with profound implications for our troubled political system. Undertaken with a deep concern about the way our government is performing, Broken Trust makes use of the debate over dysfunctional government to uncover significant flaws in the conventional wisdom as to how the Constitution works. Indeed, although Americans strongly believe that our government is dysfunctional, they are just as firmly convinced that the Constitution still works well. Griffin questions this conviction by examining how recent policy disasters—such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the response to Hurricane Katrina, and the 2008 financial crisis—are linked to our constitutional system. This leads him to pose the question of whether the government institutions we have inherited from the eighteenth century are poor fits for contemporary times. Griffin argues that understanding the decline of trust in government requires investigating the historical circumstances of the last several decades as well as the constitutional experience of the states. In particular, he examines “hybrid democracy,” the form of constitutionalism prevailing in California and other western states that combines Madisonian-style representative government with direct democracy. Hybrid democracy offers valuable lessons relevant to our contemporary difficulties with dysfunctional government at the national level. These lessons underpin the agenda for reform that Griffin then proposes, emphasizing democratic innovations aimed at producing both more effective government and greater trust in our political institutions. Building on a better understanding of the sources and consequences of government dysfunction, his book holds genuine hope, as well as practical possibilities, for the repair of our broken political and constitutional system.

We no longer have a Constitutional system of checks and balances. SCOTUS in its 2015 King and Obergefell decisions proved that, but it's not over. Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803) was the landmark Supreme Court case that established the doctrine of Judicial Review and set in stone the system of checks and balances that are articulated in the United States Constitution. However, on June 25, 2015, the Supreme Court finally and completely broke trust with that precedent, the United States Constitution, and We the People of America! In King v. Burwell, the Supreme Court changed the express words of the legislation passed by the U.S. Congress, and substituted their will for the Law. The very next day, in Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court again broke trust and usurped the Constitutional jurisdiction of the states and the people, and rewrote 5,000 years of an established definition of marriage and fabricated Constitutional protections for a deviant class it supported. In the words of Justice Antonin Scalia in his Obergefell dissent, "This is a naked judicial claim to legislative-indeed, super-legislative-power; a claim fundamentally at odds with our system of government...A system of government that makes the People subordinate to a committee of nine unelected lawyers does not deserve to be called a democracy." "Breaking Trust with the Constitution" tracks the high Court's rise and fall ... and possible reclamation!

Examines the significant gaps between what New York State’s constitution says and how the state is actually governed and offers ideas for reform. On its face, New York State’s constitution is an elaborate and impressive aggregation of processes, powers, mandates, and limits. But many of these are “inoperative,” and New Yorkers who read the document and believe what it says will come away with a massive misunderstanding of the realities of state government. The essays in New York’s Broken Constitution seek to clarify the realities by bringing attention to the gaps between what the constitution says and how the state is actually governed, and they provide a disquieting picture of the state of the state’s constitution. Among the topics addressed are state debt and budgeting practices, legislative redistricting, local government, gambling, conservation, and the process of amending the constitution. Written by knowledgeable professionals, the chapters explain the constitutional provisions in question, including the reasons for their constitutional status; how they have been used and interpreted; and the extent of the gaps between the constitutional provisions and practice. Various proposals for reform are also examined. “This is an impressive volume, teeming with invaluable insights. It presents a compelling message: since many of the dysfunctions in state governance are inextricably tied to the organizational structures and policies detailed—and sometimes followed, sometimes disregarded—in the state constitution, constitutional reform is imperative. Anyone concerned about the operation and current dysfunction of New York State government should read this book.” — Vincent M. Bonventre, Albany Law School “This book will be enormously useful in guiding the public and scholarly debate in the lead-up to the November 2017 vote on the question of whether to hold a state constitutional convention.” — John J. Dinan, author of The American State Constitutional Tradition

"Trust Shattered: Cases of Government Betrayal" is a piercing examination of the United States government's historical and contemporary oversteps against the very citizens it vows to protect. Authored by Peter A. Serefine, Jr., a U.S. Navy veteran and constitutional educator, this book scrutinizes the paradox of a protector turned predator through detailed accounts of government misconduct. Serefine dissects a series of harrowing episodes, from clandestine experiments on unsuspecting individuals to the systematic erosion of civil liberties and property rights. The book is meticulously structured into three gripping sections, each reflecting one of John Locke's core principles-life, liberty, and property-drawing a thread from philosophical foundations to tangible historical events. Part One, "Betrayed Bodies," uncovers the grim reality of government-sanctioned medical experiments, while Part Two, "Betrayed Liberties," recounts the subtle and overt ways personal freedoms have been undercut in the name of national security and progress. The final section, "Betrayed Estates," challenges the reader to reconsider the security of property rights under the shadow of eminent domain and regulatory overreach. "Trust Shattered" is more than a historical record; it is an impassioned call to awareness and action. With an educator's precision, Serefine emphasizes the necessity of understanding one's rights to recognize and resist their infringement. The book stands as a tribute to those who have suffered under government betrayal and as a beacon to future generations to uphold the tenets of justice, transparency, and accountability. Through "Trust Shattered," Serefine seeks to ignite a renewed commitment to the Constitution and to ensure that trust once broken can be restored and fortified.

Despite the outpouring of works on constitutional theory in the past several decades, no general introduction to the field has been available. Stephen Griffin provides here an original contribution to American constitutional theory in the form of a short, lucid introduction to the subject for scholars and an informed lay audience. He surveys in an unpolemical way the theoretical issues raised by judicial practice in the United States over the past three centuries, particularly since the Warren Court, and locates both theory and practices that have inspired dispute among jurists and scholars in historical context. At the same time he advances an argument about the distinctive nature of our American constitutionalism, regarding it as an instance of the interpenetration of law and politics. American Constitutionalism is unique in considering the perspectives of both law and political science in relation to constitutional theory. Constitutional theories produced by legal scholars do not usually discuss state-centered theories of American politics, the importance of institutions, behaviorist research on judicial decision making, or questions of constitutional reform, but this book takes into account the political science literature on these and other topics. The work also devotes substantial attention to judicial review and its relationship to American democracy and theories of constitutional interpretation.

Examines the significant gaps between what New York State’s constitution says and how the state is actually governed and offers ideas for reform. On its face, New York State’s constitution is an elaborate and impressive aggregation of processes, powers, mandates, and limits. But many of these are “inoperative,” and New Yorkers who read the document and believe what it says will come away with a massive misunderstanding of the realities of state government. The essays in New York’s Broken Constitution seek to clarify the realities by bringing attention to the gaps between what the constitution says and how the state is actually governed, and they provide a disquieting picture of the state of the state’s constitution. Among the topics addressed are state debt and budgeting practices, legislative redistricting, local government, gambling, conservation, and the process of amending the constitution. Written by knowledgeable professionals, the chapters explain the constitutional provisions in question, including the reasons for their constitutional status; how they have been used and interpreted; and the extent of the gaps between the constitutional provisions and practice. Various proposals for reform are also examined. “This is an impressive volume, teeming with invaluable insights. It presents a compelling message: since many of the dysfunctions in state governance are inextricably tied to the organizational structures and policies detailed—and sometimes followed, sometimes disregarded—in the state constitution, constitutional reform is imperative. Anyone concerned about the operation and current dysfunction of New York State government should read this book.” — Vincent M. Bonventre, Albany Law School “This book will be enormously useful in guiding the public and scholarly debate in the lead-up to the November 2017 vote on the question of whether to hold a state constitutional convention.” — John J. Dinan, author of The American State Constitutional Tradition