Americans have a love-hate relationship with government. Rejecting bureaucracy—but not the goods and services the welfare state provides—Americans are insisting that government be made to run like a business. But, as Jon Michaels shows, separating the state from its public servants, practices, and institutions does violence to our Constitution, and threatens the health, stability, and legitimacy of the Republic.
Weaving together dramatic accounts of the Framers’ original governing scheme, FDR’s New Deal, LBJ’s Great Society, Ronald Reagan’s Privatization Revolution, and—now—the instant Trumpist movement to run government like a business, Constitutional Coup tells the story of the rise, maturation, and present-day demise of American constitutional government.
Casting privatization as an existential threat, Constitutional Coup explains how the fusion of politics and profits commercializes and destabilizes government, enriching big businesses cozy with the White House while emboldening CEO-style presidents to act imperially, without regard for bureaucratic expertise, civil society, or the rule of law.
A definitive guide to navigating the Trump presidency, Constitutional Coup urges—and maps out—a plan for democratic reform and constitutional redemption.
Published by Harvard University Press on October 23, 2017, Constitutional Coup debuted on Amazon.com as its #1 New Release in Constitutional Law.
Buy the book:
Can’t wait until the book arrives? You can read the introduction here!
Reviews:
Book Blurbs
“A truly fundamental contribution to constitutional thought, especially important at a moment when the Trump presidency is escalating the privatization of American government.”
—Bruce Ackerman, Yale Law School
“One of our most insightful constitutional scholars working today, Jon Michaels, has given us an eloquent, historically rooted defense of the federal government’s legitimacy. Crisply written but steeped in the most recent scholarship, Michaels’ book will be a landmark in constitutional scholarship.
—Aziz Huq, University of Chicago Law School
“Jon Michaels has identified a key aspect of the modern state, its increasing delegation to private businesses of fundamental tasks historically associated with governance. What is fresh and compelling about his book is his elaboration of the truly constitutional dimensions of these developments.”
—Sanford Levinson, Harvard Law School and University of Texas Law School
Published reviews
- The Government Contractor (Steven Schooner), Oct. 25, 2017
- Washington Monthly (Joshua Alvarez), Oct. 26 2017
- The Washington Post (Sasha Volokh), Dec. 12, 2017
- Harvard Law Review (Sabeel Rahman), Apr. 10, 2018
- Michigan Law Review (Jeffrey Pojanowski), Apr. 2018