TY  - BOOK
AU  - Levinson,Cynthia
AU  - Levinson,Sanford
TI  - Fault lines in the Constitution: the framers, their fights, and the flaws that affect us today 
SN  - 9781561459452
AV  - KF4550.Z9 L475 2017
U1  - 342.73 LEV 23
KW  - Constitutional law
KW  - United States
KW  - Juvenile literature
KW  - Civics
KW  - Constitution
KW  - Politics and government
KW  - fast
KW  - Juvenile works
N1  - Includes bibliographical references and index; Introduction --; Preamble --; Part I; How bills become (Or, more likely, don't become) law; It takes two to tango (bicameralism) --; Big states, little say (the Senate) --; Delete! (presidential veto) --; Majority rules, except when it doesn't (supermajority rules) --; Part II; Hello, can you hear me?; How to cherry-pick voters (gerrymandering) --; Taxation without representation (the District of Columbia) --; "I'll just do it myself!" "Oh no you won't" (direct democracy) --; Part III; If America threw a party, would you be let in?; Who can vote? How do you know? (voting rights) --; Who gets to represent you? (restrictions on running for congress) --; Who gets a shot at the Oval Office? (restrictions on running for president) --; Time's up! (presidential term limits) --; Part IV; "Hurrah! I'm 18. Finally I can vote for president."; The college with no courses or credits (the Electoral College) --; Part V; Who's running America?; Knock, knock. Is anybody there? (continuity in government) --; Is there a leader in the room? (presidential succession) --; The duck's in charge. January 20th (inauguration day) --; Part VI; Emergency! Emergency!; At war (emergency powers) --; At war with bugs (habeas corpus) --; We can change it, right? (amending the Constitution) --; Part VII; Keeping pace with the times; Grading the Constitution --; Now what? --; Post-amble --; Timeline; 10+; Lexile; Accelerated Reader; Level 8.8
N2  - Gridlock! Gerrymandering! The Electoral college! How did our government get so complicated? As it turns out, many of the issues we struggle with today have their roots in the creation of the United States Constitution. Husband-and-wife team Cynthis Levinson and Sanford Levinson take us back to the beginnings of this document and show how these fault lines were first introduced - and how their unintended consequences continue to affect us today. The Framers of the Constitution, they remind us, faced many of the same challenges and disputes that we do in the twenty-first century. Sometimes there was conflict, sometimes compromise - and the Framers met most of the challenges with great skill and foresight. Some issues, however, were just too complex or controversial to settle in such a brief time. Today we are still suffering from the consequences of disputes and decisions made in an overheated room in 1787, as a new form of government for our country was being created. -- from dust jacket
ER  -