Apple of Gold Constitutionalism in Israel and the United States [Paperback]

By comparing the constitutional systems of Israel and the United States, Gary Jacobsohn provides a new view of the essentials of constitutionalism itself--a balanced picture that would have been impossible to achieve by focusing on any one polity. Abraham Lincoln, in likening the Declaration of Independence to the Biblical apple of gold, and the Constitution to its picture of silver, illuminated the connections in the United States between political ideas and constitutional government. Jacobsohn applies Lincoln's insight to the Israeli experience to develop a deeper understanding of the relationship between political culture and constitutionalism, and the limits and possibilities for constitutional transplantation.

Originally published in 1993.

ThePrinceton Legacy Libraryuses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Gary J. Jacobsohn's book is among the most astute and far-seeing of the current batch of books on comparative constitutional issues. In fact, it is hard to overstate the importance of his book because its significance transcends its immediate subject. He compares Israel and the United States, but his comparison speaks powerfully to the identity crisis of liberalism in a multicultural era. ---Graham Walker,American Political Science Review Jacobsohn's comparative study of constitutionalism in the United States and Israel is a model of comparative constitutional analysis, and the best book of its kind in a very, very long time. ---John E. Finn,The Review of Politicsl“%