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Robert Bennett, former dean of Northwestern Law and constitutional law scholar, has been appointed the Nathaniel L. Nathanson Professor of Law.

His latest book, "Talking It Through: Puzzles of American Democracy," which will be published this fall by Cornell University Press, grows out of Bennett's thinking about the so-called "counter-majoritarian difficulty," a phrase written about extensively by constitutional theorists.

The phrase suggests that constitutional review by the federal judiciary is problematic because its unelected judges make law in the name of the Constitution but are counter-majoritarian, unlike other branches of government.

Bennett argues that Bickel's analysis of difficulty doesn't make sense, because the rest of the American political system is not particularly majoritarian either. Starting from that insight, Bennett has developed a new theory not only of constitutional review by the judiciary, but of American democracy more generally.

American democracy, according to Bennett, is conversational. Fed by the incentives of electoral politics, politicians -- and secondarily media of communication -- direct communication to essentially the entire adult populace. This democratic conversation instills a sense of involvement by the citizenry in the enterprise as a whole.

Other theorists have discussed democratic conversation, but usually to criticize its extent and content. Bennett seeks instead to explore the explanatory power of the conversation that does take place.

From this conversational perspective, Bennett "solves" a variety of puzzles of American democracy. One is the absence of concern about apportionment of the United States Senate. According to Bennett, the 50 million people in California don't get upset that they have only two senators just like the 450,000 people in Wyoming, because the Senate is an extremely effective vehicle for engaging constituents in conversation.

During the 2000 election, Bennett was quoted extensively by national media, and afterward he and colleagues at Northwestern organized a conference on election related problems. Bennett's contribution to the conference dealt with the electoral college.

An active scholar and constitutional theorist, Bennett joined the Law School in 1969 and served as its dean from 1985 to 1995. Also active in professional affairs, he helped found the Chicago Council of Lawyers and was President of the American Bar Foundation from 1992 to 1994. He has argued in the United States Supreme Court and has been a professional arbitrator and mediator.

Victor Rosenblum, who previously held the Nathaniel L. Nathanson chair, will now hold it under the emeritus title although he remains a full-time active member of the Law School faculty.

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