The American presidential election of 2000 raised fundamental questions not only about American democracy, but also about the nation's constitution and about the legitimate role of American courts, state and federal. This text presents a reaction to the legal aftermath of the election.
"The Longest Night provides a comprehensive and insightful look at our country's most fascinating election. The contributions from political insiders are utterly absorbing. Sharply written and edited; an impressive collaboration."-Susan Estrich, author of Sex and Power
"Arthur Jacobson and Michel Rosenfeld have provided a very important civic service. Their collection of commentaries on the disputed presidential election of 2000 brings all the confusion and frenzy of that event into clear intellectual focus. On one level it documents the most lively and informed reaction to the legal aftermath of the election. But it does more. It contains a range of erudite and well-reasoned interpretations, not just of the law and court decisions, but also of political institutions, the constitutional history, and the election itself."-Mary P Ryan, author of Civic Wars: Democracy and Public Life in the American City during the Nineteenth Century
"The great strength of this book is its inclusion of international perspectives on the American presidential debacle of 2000. After reading the insights of commentators and scholars from France, Italy, Germany, and elsewhere, it becomes clear precisely why, like an aging Humpty-Dumpty, our patchwork set of elitist assumptions, idiosyncratic practices, and archaic democratic institutions came tumbling down in Florida. It is too late simply to put Humtpy-Dumpty back together again. The Longest Night reminds us that the United States has much to learn from those countries that are boldly advandcing the future of democracy and leaving us in their dust."-Lani Guinier, coauthor of The Miner's Canary: Enlisting Race, Resisting Power, Transforming Democracy
