《民主和不信任》是美国宪法学领域最重要的专著之一。作者伊利(John Hart Ely)教授曾经担任哈佛大学的教授、斯坦福大学法学院的院长,现在任职于迈阿密大学法学院。哥伦比亚大学法学院莫那甘(Henry P.Monaghan)教授曾赞誉该书对“二十世纪美国司法审查理论做出了最重大的贡献。”翻译这样一部开创司法审查理论新领域的著作,对于司法审查在操作层面尚未建立、在理论层面也还处于引介西方学说阶段的中国,其意义怎样说都不为过。 Democracy and Mistrust are one of the most important monographs in the field of constitutional law in the United States. Author Professor John Hart Ely was a professor at Harvard University and Dean of Stanford Law School, now working at the University of Miami Law School. Professor Henry P. Monaghan of Columbia Law School has praised the book as the most significant contributor to “the theory of American judicial review of the twentieth century.” "Translating such a book that opens up new fields of judicial review theory , The judicial review has not yet been established at the operational level, and at the theoretical level, it is still in the stage of introducing Western theory. Its meaning can not be overemphasized.