Separation of Powers: How to Preserve Liberty in Troubled Times
book · First published 2026
Author guide
Cass R. Sunstein Books in Order
Cass R. Sunstein is Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard Law School and founder and director of Harvard's Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy. He previously served as Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. His scholarship and books address constitutional law, administrative and regulatory law, freedom of speech, risk, behavioral economics, choice architecture, public policy, democracy, and artificial intelligence.
nonfictionlawconstitutional theorypublic policybehavioral economics
Catalog record updated .
Cass R. Sunstein's Newest Book
Not sure where to begin?
Start with one of these
Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness
The most accessible introduction to Sunstein's behavioral economics, choice architecture, and public-policy work.
On Freedom
A concise entry point into his broader treatment of liberty and public life.
The Partial Constitution
A foundational statement of his constitutional-law scholarship.
Outside the series
Bibliography by category
Other (61)
- Constitutional Law
book · 1986
- The Partial Constitution
book · 1993
- Democracy and the Problem of Free Speech
book · 1993
Sunstein focus the free-market approach to free-speech regulation with a Madisonian emphasis on discourse in a deliberative democracy. The laissez-faire framework for regulation are replaced by a two-tier framework that slots political,…
- Legal Reasoning and Political Conflict
book · 1996
- The Cost of Rights
book · 1999
Government does not reflect rights that are somewhere out there in the universe, but defines and ensures rights itself. And that takes money, which requires taxes.
- Administrative Law and Regulatory Policy
book · 1999
- The First Amendment
book · 1999
- Designing Democracy: What Constitutions Do
book · 2001
- Republic.com
book · 2001
"See only what you want to see, hear only what you want to hear, read only what you want to read. In cyberspace, we already have the ability to filter out everything but what we wish to see, hear, and read. Cass Sunstein asks the…
- Risk and Reason
book · 2002
- The Cost-Benefit State
book · 2002
- Punitive Damages: How Juries Decide
book · 2002
- Why Societies Need Dissent
book · 2003
Dissenters are often portrayed as selfish and disloyal, but Sunstein shows that those who reject pressures imposed by others perform valuable social functions, often at their own expense.
- Laws of Fear: Beyond the Precautionary Principle
book · 2005
What is the relationship between fear, danger, and the law? Cass Sunstein attacks the increasingly influential Precautionary Principle - the idea that regulators should take steps to protect against potential harms, even if causal chains…
- Radicals in Robes: Why Extreme Right-Wing Courts Are Wrong for America
book · 2005
Argues that conservatives want to restore "the Constitution in Exile," which would undermine the civil liberties of Americans and endanger environmental regulations, campaign finance laws, and the right to privacy.
- Infotopia: How Many Minds Produce Knowledge
book · 2006
- Worst-Case Scenarios
book · 2007
Nuclear bombs in suitcases, anthrax bacilli in ventilators, tsunamis and meteors, avian flu, scorchingly hot temperatures: nightmares that were once the plot of Hollywood movies are now frighteningly real possibilities. How can we steer a…
- Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness
book · 2008
GetAbstract Summary: Get the key points from this book in less than 10 minutes. In this lovely, useful book, Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein examine choices, biases and the limits of human reasoning from a variety of perspectives. They…
- On Rumors
book · 2009
Many of us are being misled. Claiming to know the “pals” of presidential aspirants, dark secrets about public officials, and hidden causes of the current economic crisis, those who spread rumors know precisely what they are doing. They…
- Simpler: The Future of Government
book · 2013
- How to Humble a Wingnut and Other Lessons from Behavioral Economics
book · 2013
In How to Humble a Wingnut, leading constitutional scholar, behavioral economist, and former Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Cass R. Sunstein examines the unconventional impetuses behind human…
- Conspiracy Theories and Other Dangerous Ideas
book · 2014
A collection of controversial essays touches upon an array of issues, from marriage equality and conspiracy theories to animal rights.
- Why Nudge?: The Politics of Libertarian Paternalism
book · 2014
Based on a series of pathbreaking lectures given at Yale University in 2012, this powerful, thought-provoking work by national best-selling author Cass R. Sunstein combines legal theory with behavioral economics to make a fresh argument…
- Valuing Life: Humanizing the Regulatory State
book · 2014
Franklin's algebra -- Inside government -- Human consequences, or the real world of cost-benefit analysis -- Dignity, financial meltdown, and other nonquantifiable things -- Valuing life, 1: problems -- Valuing life, 2: solutions -- The…
- Choosing Not to Choose: Understanding the Value of Choice
book · 2015
Cass R. Sunstein is at the forefront of developing public policy to encourage people to make better decisions. In Choosing Not to Choose he presents his most complete argument for how we should understand the value of choice, and when and…
- Constitutional Personae: Heroes, Soldiers, Minimalists, and Mutes
book · 2015
"Since America's founding, hundreds of U.S. Supreme Court Justices have issued a vast number of decisions on a staggeringly wide variety of subjects. Yet as the eminent legal scholar, Cass R. Sunstein shows, constitutional law is…
- The World According to Star Wars
book · 2016
- Impeachment: A Citizen's Guide
book · 2017
“With insight, wisdom, affection, and concern, Sunstein has written the story of impeachment every citizen needs to know. This is a remarkable, essential book.” —Doris Kearns Goodwin No one is above the law, not even the president.…
- The Cost-Benefit Revolution
book · 2018
- How Change Happens
book · 2019
- On Freedom
book · 2019
From New York Times bestselling author Cass Sunstein, a brisk, provocative book that shows what freedom really means—and requires—today In this pathbreaking book, New York Times bestselling author Cass Sunstein asks us to rethink freedom.…
- Conformity: The Power of Social Influences
book · 2019
- Behavioral Science and Public Policy
book · 2020
- Too Much Information: Understanding What You Don't Want to Know
book · 2020
How information can make us happy or miserable, and why we sometimes avoid it and sometimes seek it out. How much information is too much? Do we need to know how many calories are in the giant vat of popcorn that we bought on our way into…
- Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment
book · 2021
Show how noise produces errors in many fields, including in medicine, law, public health, economic forecasting, forensic science, child protection, creative strategy, performance review and hiring
- Bounded Rationality: Heuristics, Judgment, and Public Policy
book · 2022
Two leaders in the field explore the foundations of bounded rationality and its effects on choices by individuals, firms, and the government. Bounded rationality recognizes that human behavior departs from the perfect rationality assumed…
- How to Interpret the Constitution
book · 2023
- Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There
book · 2024
This “smart and fun read, and a valuable way to revitalize your life” (Walter Isaacson) deftly explains how disrupting our well-worn routines, both good and bad, can rejuvenate and reset our brains for the better. Have you ever noticed…
- Campus Free Speech: A Pocket Guide
book · 2024
In this concise, pragmatic guide, Cass Sunstein presents a range of scenarios involving students, professors, and administrators, and demonstrates how to distinguish reasonable restrictions from impermissible infringement on free speech.…
- Imperfect Oracle: What AI Can and Cannot Do
book · 2025
- On Liberalism: In Defense of Freedom
book · 2025
A much-needed defense of liberalism—what it is, why it is under threat, and why we need it more than ever—from one of our most important political thinkers today. More than at any time since World War II, liberalism is under pressure,…
Frequently asked questions about Cass R. Sunstein
Who is Cass R. Sunstein, and what is he known for?
Cass R. Sunstein is an American legal scholar and author who serves as Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard. He is known for influential work in constitutional law, administrative law, behavioral economics, and public policy.
Sources: hls.harvard.edu (opens in a new tab)holbergprize.org (opens in a new tab)
When was Cass R. Sunstein born, and where did he study?
Sunstein was born in 1954. He graduated from Harvard College in 1975 and Harvard Law School in 1978, later clerking for Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Justice Benjamin Kaplan and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
Sources: holbergprize.org (opens in a new tab)hls.harvard.edu (opens in a new tab)
What roles has Cass R. Sunstein held in government and academia?
He taught at the University of Chicago before joining Harvard Law School, where he founded and directs the Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy. From 2009 to 2012, he served as Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
Sources: hls.harvard.edu (opens in a new tab)obamawhitehouse.archives.gov (opens in a new tab)
What influenced Cass R. Sunstein’s approach to law and public policy?
His approach draws especially on cognitive psychology and behavioral economics, alongside legal theory and political science. With Richard Thaler and Christine Jolls, he helped establish behavioral law and economics as an interdisciplinary field focused on how people actually make decisions.
Sources: hls.harvard.edu (opens in a new tab)hls.harvard.edu (opens in a new tab)
What awards has Cass R. Sunstein received, and what is his lasting legacy?
Sunstein received the American Philosophical Society’s Henry M. Phillips Prize in Jurisprudence in 2007 and the Holberg Prize in 2018. His lasting legacy is the integration of behavioral science with legal scholarship and public policy, with broad influence on academic research and practical regulation.
Sources: amphilsoc.org (opens in a new tab)holbergprize.org (opens in a new tab)