Includes bibliographical references and index.

An unreasonable reaction to a reasonable decision / Charles Fried -- Not as bad as Plessy. Worse / Jed Rubenfeld -- EroG v. hsuB : through the looking glass / Laurence H. Tribe -- In partial (but not partisan) praise of principle / Guido Calabresi -- The fallibility of reason / Owen Fiss -- Sustaining the premise of legality : learning to live with Bush v. Gore / Robert Post -- Can the rule of law survive Bush v. Gore / Margaret Jane Radin -- A political question / Steven G. Calabresi -- Political questions and the hazards of pragmatism / Jeffrey Rosen -- The conservatism in Bush v. Gore / Mark Tushnet -- Does the constitution enact the republican party platform? : beyond Bush v. Gore / Cass R. Sunstein -- Off balance / Bruce Ackerman -- Legitimacy and the 2000 election / Jack M. Balkin.

The Supreme Court's intervention in the 2000 election will shape American law and democracy long after George W. Bush has left the White House. This book brings together a broad range of preeminent legal scholars who address the larger questions raised by the Supreme Court's actions. Did the Court's decision violate the rule of law? Did it inaugurate an era of super-politicized jurisprudence? How should Bush v. Gore change the terms of debate over the next round of Supreme Court appointments? The contributors -- Bruce Ackerman, Jack Balkin, Guido Calabresi, Steven Calabresi, Owen Fiss, Charles Fried, Robert Post, Margaret Jane Radin, Jeffrey Rosen, Jed Rubenreid, Cass Sunstein, Laurence Tribe, and Mark Tushnet -- represent a broad political spectrum. Their reactions to the case are varied and surprising, filled with sparkling argument and spirited debate.