Constitutional Brinksmanship: Amending the Constitution by National Convention

by Russell L. Caplan

In this first systematic study of the legal problems relating to the convention clause, Russell Caplan shows that repeated constitutional crises have given rise to state drives for a national convention nearly every twenty years since the Constitution was enacted. He deftly examines the politics of constitutional brinksmanship between Congress and the states to reveal the ongoing tension between state and federal rights and constitutional tradition and reform.

264 pages, Hardcover

First published December 8, 1988