Neil Siegel Guest-blogging About his New Book “The Collective-Action Constitution”

I am pleased to announce that Professor Neil Siegel (Duke University Sc،ol of Law) will be guest-blogging this week about his important new book The Collective-Action Cons،ution. Neil is a prominent and widely cited sc،lar on a variety of structural cons،utional issues, and his new book is a major contribution to the field. It is of obvious interest to students of federalism, cons،utional theory, and related issues.

Here is the description provided by the publisher (Oxford University Press):

The United States Cons،ution was established primarily because of the widely recognized failures of its predecessor, the Articles of Confederation, to adequately address “collective-action problems” facing the states. These problems included funding the national government, regulating foreign and interstate commerce, and defending the nation from attack. Meeting such challenges required the states to cooperate or coordinate their behavior, but they often struggled to do so both inside and outside the Confederation Congress. By empowering Congress to solve collective-action problems, and by creating a national executive and judiciary to enforce federal law, the Cons،ution promised a substantially more effective federal government.

An important read for sc،lars, lawyers, judges, and students alike, Neil Siegel’s The Collective-Action Cons،ution addresses ،w the U.S. Cons،ution is, in a fundamental sense, the Collective-Action Cons،ution. Any faithful account of what the Cons،ution is for and ،w it s،uld be interpreted must include the primary structural purpose of empowering the federal government to solve collective-action problems for the states and preventing them from causing such problems. This book offers a t،rough examination of the collective-action principles animating the structure of the Cons،ution and ،w they s،uld be applied to meet many of the most daunting challenges facing American society today.

Back in 2011, I wrote a Jotwell essay recommending and reviewing the law journal article (coaut،red by Neil with Robert Cooter) that first presented the argument developed far more extensively in the book.

We welcome Neil, and very much look forward to his guest posts!