An Inconvenient Analysis: Title IX’s Shortcomings

R. Shep Melnick, the Thomas P. O’Neill Professor of American Politics at Boston College and co-chair of Harvard’s Program on Constitutional Government, has produced important books on how courts have expanded welfare rights and environmental regulations, in the process largely removing elected policymakers from policymaking, undermining democratic processes such as bargaining.1 Although liberal, Melnick’s willingness to go where evidence leads often appeals to conservatives. This is certainly the case with Melnick’s latest book, The Transformation of Title IX: Regulating Gender Equality in Education. Unlike his prior books from Brookings Institution Press, however, this book has won no awards and has received little notice save from a few conservative outlets. This is lamentable, because The Transformation of Title IXoffers a comprehensive history of Title IX policy with important implications for ongoing debates, or what should be ongoing debates rather