Ordered Liberty: A Constitutional History of NY

The impending 1997 mandate to place before the voters the question on whether to convene a convention to revise and amend the New York Constitution becomes increasingly important and deserving of careful attention. Ordered Liberty provides a comprehensive chronicle of the constitutional history of New York state. There exists no single or multi-volumed work in print which examines this crucial history. This volume, bringing all previously published studies up to date, uses as its organizational frame the nine constitutional conventions in New York history and the constitutions each produced. Each convention is placed in its political, legal, and economic context- the work of the convention is examined, and the political theory reflected in each is explained. Finally, an assessment of each convention's accomplishments is presented. Subsequent sections of the volume examine appropriate methods to achieve that reform. An extensive bibliographical essay of primary and secondary sources on the state's constitutional history is provided.

About the Author :
Peter Galie is Professor of Political Science at Canisius College.

Review :
"Full understanding of American constitutionalism requires attention to the 50 states. Focusing on the themes of "aversion to special legislation, democratization of the polity, and constitutionalizing of public policy," political scientist Galie expertly guides readers through the important history of New York's Constitution, which is older than the federal counterpart and has been changed much more. New York's story reveals an interplay among high-minded statecraft, partisan politics, and changes in the economy, social conditions, and political theory. Well-researched and most usefully read together with primary documents, Ordered Liberty begins with New York's Colonial background and first Constitution (1777), and proceeds chronologically and thoughtfully through the various reforms and amendments to 1995. It examines all conventions and commissions whose proposals voters either rejected or adopted. With an eye on the Constitution as "imperfect" and "much in need of reform," and looking toward the 1997 decision New Yorkers must make about whether to call a constitutional convention, Galie skillfully analyzes important topics and issues, from suffrage, finance, debt and taxation, home rule, welfare, and relation to corporations and economic growth to the powers, roles, and organization of the executive, legislature, and judiciary. Graduate; faculty." -Choice "Galie adds to his scholarly laurels the first Constitutional History of New York since Charles Lincoln's magnum opus... It is a major scholarly achievement." -New York Law Journal