Amazon.com description: Product Description: This updated and expanded second edition of the successful Constitutions Compared handbook provides a user-friendly introduction to comparative constitutional law. The book covers the constitutional systems of the US, the UK, Germany, France, and the Netherlands. It is a helpful guide for students who are exploring comparative constitutional law, and it is a useful foundation for more advanced graduate-level courses. The book's comparative approach is thematic. For each area of constitutional law, a general introduction and a comparative overview is provided, which is then followed by more detailed country chapters on that specific area. The themes addressed are: origins and main features of constitutions * federalism, unitarism, and decentralization * parliaments and lawmaking * governments, their parliaments, and their heads of state * judicial review and human rights. In addition, the book discusses the constitutional impact of the EU, the system of human-rights protection under the European Convention on Human Rights, and the interaction between the EU, European human rights, and national constitutions. The book includes a table giving an overview of the systems discussed, a glossary, and an expanded selection of freshly translated, important provisions from national constitutions and international treaties.