New Perspectives on American Law provides students with a political science perspective on the common law of contracts, torts, criminal law, property, and civil procedure. Selected cases and materials, replete with commentary, are tailored for undergraduate use. Each of the five sections begins with a short introductory essay outlining the topic and the social/political science implications raised by the materials. The cases in each section have been edited to be understandable, and nonessential citations and secondary references in cases have been deleted.

This textbook is unique in that it not only argues that traditional common law areas of the law are worthy of political study, but also goes on to present those subjects for political study. There are other texts that offer snippets of many different areas of law and claim that these areas are fit subjects for political study, but none analyze these subjects or offer the student the significant exposure to such matters of the law as New Perspectives on American Law.