Reimagining the American Union

The Case for Abolishing State Government

Stephen H. Legomsky (Washington University, St Louis)

$59.95

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Cambridge University Press
09 January 2025

Political structures: democracy; Regional government; Constitutional & administrative law

Reimagining the American Union challenges readers to imagine an America without state government. No longer a union of arbitrarily constructed states, the country would become a union of its people. The first book ever to argue for abolishing state government in the US, it exposes state government as the root cause of the gravest threats to American democracy. Some of those threats are baked into the Constitution; others are the product of state legislatures abusing their already-constitutionally-outsized powers through gerrymanders, voter suppression schemes, and other less-publicized manipulations that all too often purposefully target African-American and other minority voters. Reimagining the American Union goes on to demonstrate how having three levels of legislative bodies (national, state, and local) – and three levels of taxation, bureaucracy, and regulation – wastes taxpayer money and pointlessly burdens the citizenry. Two levels of government – national and local – would do just fine. After debunking the offsetting benefits typically claimed for state government, the book concludes with a portrait of what a new, unitary American republic might look like.

By: Stephen H. Legomsky (Washington University St Louis)
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 16mm
Weight: 445g
ISBN: 9781009581417
ISBN 10: 1009581414
Pages: 306
Publication Date: 09 January 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Introduction; 1. The origins of American federalism: a tourist's guide; 2. Democracy: state behavior problems; 3. Democracy: state behavior problems; 4. Fiscal waste; 5. The benefits of state government; 6. A new American republic

Stephen H. Legomsky is the John S. Lehmann University Professor Emeritus at the Washington University School of Law. Professor Legomsky has published scholarly books on immigration and refugee law, courts, and constitutional law, as well as a novel and a short story collection. His extensive professional background includes a post in the Obama Administration and other diverse experiences working with federal, state, local, UN, and foreign governments.