The Price of Politics

Lessons from Kelo v. City of New London

By (author) Kyle Scott

Not available to order

Publication date:

04 November 2009

Length of book:

178 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

ISBN-13: 9780739133859

This book makes the unconventional claim that all of the rights in the U.S. Constitution are unified since they are derived from the same sources. Using the U.S. Supreme Court's controversial decision of Kelo v. City of New London to explore one of the most important constitutional questions of our time, this book reaches across disciplines and subfields to bring forth an innovative understanding of rights. The book derives its understanding of rights from historical sources and philosophical texts which then serve as the basis for the empirically backed claim that rights in U.S. have been sacrificed for partisan gain and that the unbiased protection of rights is the only manner in which a free and equitable government and economy can be sustained. Given the theoretical and practical implications of the property rights debate, understanding it is important for everyone in the U.S. and abroad.
In an age when few Americans can define "right" or explain how the founding fathers defined rights, Scott's book is indispensable for a correct understanding of rights and how property rights are inextricably linked to all rights. The erosion of the former leads to the erosion of the latter. No less important, Professor Scott uses Lockean thought as the key to understanding what the founders meant by property rights and examines the Kelo decision to reveal how far modern-day courts have strayed from the original intent.