Constitutional Dictatorship ― Crisis Government in the Modern Democracies

Citing historical precedents of violating the United States Constitution and establishing dictatorial powers exercised by presidents in times of war, the late Rossiter (formerly a professor of government at Cornell U.) argued that there is an implicit legal right to temporarily overthrow the constitution, even if the Supreme Court has consistently rejected that claim. Rossiter claimed to recognize the dangers of his doctrine and set out a blueprint for judging whether that right may be exercised. He compares Lincoln's suspension of Habeas Corpus, Roosevelt's internment of Japanese-Americans, the overthrow of Weimar Germany, and other examples for American, German, British, and French overthrows of constitutional order as a means for establishing the parameters for constitutional usurpation. The Princeton U. Press original 1948 edition is cited in Books for College Libraries , third edition. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)