For this introductory casebook on constitutional law, Epstein (law and political science, Northwestern U.) and Walker (political science, Emory U.) have combined the traditional coverage of Supreme Court decisions and analysis of how the court has applied the resulting legal precedents to subsequent disputes with discussion of the political factors that influence the Court and help shape the development of constitutional law, including the ways lawyers and interest groups frame legal disputes, the ideological and behavioral propensities of the justices, the politics of judicial selection, public opinion, and the actions of elected officials. Otherwise, their approach shares topical similarities with other introductory constitutional law casebooks that focus on politico-economic issues, providing coverage of the constitutional structure of government and chapters on federalisms, the power to tax and spend, the commerce power, the contract clause, economic substantive due process, and the takings clause. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)