Special Issue Constitutional Politics in a Conservative Era -- Copyright page -- Contents -- List of Contributors -- Editorial board -- Chapter 1. Understanding the impact and visibility of ideological change on the supreme court -- Introduction: Rights, majorities, and Warren Court hangovers -- Five do's and don'ts for assessing ideological shift on the court and the impact of judicial rulings on democratic politics -- Future directions of the court -- Notes -- References -- Cases cited -- Chapter 2. An indifference thesis: Constitutional law and politics in an era of ''conservative domination'' of the judiciary -- Introduction: An indifference thesis about commentary -- Hypotheses for locating ''domination'' of the judiciary -- Concepts of a ''conservative'' judiciary -- The benchmarks: A tangled political and judicial web -- Rapanos and ''conservative domination of the judiciary'' -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- Cases cited -- Chapter 3. Popular constitutionalism: The new living constitutionalism -- The Turn to Popular Constitutionalism -- The Progressive Roots of Popular Constitutionalism -- Conservative Politics and Contemporary Constitutional Theory -- Judicial Conservatism and the Incongruities of Constitutional Development -- Legal Liberalism's Break with the New Deal -- Conclusion: A Conservative Era? -- Notes -- References -- Cases cited -- Chapter 4. Political regimes and the future of the First Amendment -- The influence of political regimes -- The Rehnquist Court and the religion clauses -- The Rehnquist Court and the non-religion First Amendment cases -- Explaining the divergence(s) -- The conservative First Amendment -- Notes -- References -- Chapter 5. Confirmation obfuscation: Supreme Court confirmation politics in a conservative era -- 1. Introduction.

2. The confirmation process in historical perspective: Keeping nominees at a distance -- 3. A new role for senators? Inviting the public into the confirmation process -- 4. ''Packing the courts'': Social conservatives adopt a new political strategy -- 5. Senate hearings as ''show business'': The modern-day confirmation charade -- 6. A public left behind: The confirmation process at the start of the 21st century -- 7. Conclusion -- Notes -- Acknowledgments -- References -- Chapter 6. Why Does a Moderate/Conservative Supreme Court in a Conservative Age Expand Gay Rights?: Lawrence v. Texas (2003) in Legal and Political Time -- Introduction -- Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey (1992) and Lawrence v. Texas (2003): Principled bi-directional Supreme Court decision making -- Social scientists and legal scholars failed to explain (much less predict) the expansion of gay rights -- The legitimacy of PBD: A defining fissure On and Off the Supreme Court -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- Cases cited.