Global Constitutional Narratives Of Autonomous Regions

With international attention focused on Hong Kong, many forget that Macau also exists in a delicate "one country, two systems" (OCTS) balance with mainland China. This book provides insights into the circumstances surrounding the less-understood half of China’s OCTS policy, including the stagnation of representational government, and the location of any Macau characteristics in the Macau Basic Law. Despite being Hong Kong’s sister "Special Administrative Region" (SAR) within the People’s Republic of China, Macau’s unique constitutional development under Portuguese and Chinese administration remains under-appreciated despite its potential contributions to local, national, and international constitutional discourse. Utilizing a multidisciplinary approach, including doctrinal, historical, and comparative methodologies, this work fills that gap. The research blends Portuguese, Chinese, and foreign-language sources in order to reconstruct a balanced constitutional narrative. The book focuses on a consequential effect of globalization – that is, the assimilation of a long-standing and unique constitutional order by a new hegemonic sovereign – including processes for internationalization as China opened up, legal harmonization of two distinct legal and socioeconomic orders, juridification of local affairs with the establishment of a new local court system in preparation for handover to the Chinese regime, and democratization (or the lack thereof) among the various communities comprising the Macanese polity before and since. Focusing on Macau’s unique development at the crux of European and Chinese empires, and the role it plays as a mirror for Chinese intentions vis-a-vis Hong Kong today, the book will be of interest to those working in constitutional law, politics, and history.

With international attention focused on Hong Kong, many forget that Macau also exists in a delicate `one country, two systems’ (OCTS) balance with mainland China. This book provides insights into the circumstances surrounding the less-understood half of China’s OCTS policy, including the stagnation of representational government, and the location of any Macau characteristics in the Macau Basic Law. Despite being Hong Kong’s sister `Special Administrative Region’ (SAR) within the People’s Republic of China, Macau’s unique constitutional development under Portuguese and Chinese administration remains under-appreciated despite its potential contributions to local, national, and international constitutional discourse. Utilizing a multi-disciplinary approach including doctrinal, historical, and comparative methodologies, this work fills that gap. The research blends Portuguese, Chinese, and foreign-language sources in order to reconstruct a balanced constitutional narrative. The book focuses on a consequential effect of globalization – that is, the assimilation of a longstanding and unique constitutional order by a new hegemonic sovereign – including processes for internationalization as China opened up, legal harmonization of two distinct legal and socioeconomic orders, juridification of local affairs with the establishment of a new local court system in preparation for handover to the Chinese regime, and democratization (or the lack thereof) among the various communities comprising the Macanese polity before and since. Focusing on Macau’s unique development at the crux of European and Chinese empires, and the role it plays as a mirror for Chinese intentions vis-a-vis Hong Kong today, the book will be of interest to those working in Constitutional Law, Politics and History.

The rapid spread of judicially-enforced constitutional rights has been one of the most dramatic developments in modern law. This book argues that there is now a global model for how such rights should function, and develops an original, philosophically grounded, account of their nature and scope.

Climate change is causing traditional political and legal concepts to be revisited. The emergence of a global polity through physical, economic and social interaction demands global responses which should be founded upon new principles and which cannot simply be modelled on traditional constitutionalism centred on the nation-state. This Research Handbook explores how to build this climate constitutionalism at a global level, starting from the narrative of Anthropocene and its implications for law. It provides a critical approach to global environmental constitutionalism, analysing the problems of sustainability and global equity which are entwined with the causes and consequences of climate change. The Handbook explores how to develop constitutional discourses and strategies to address these issues, and thereby tackle the negative effects of climate change whilst also advancing a more sustainable, equitable and responsible global society.

"A Practical Guide to Constitution Building provides an essential foundation for understanding constitutions and constitution building. Full of world examples of ground-breaking agreements and innovative provisions adopted during processes of constitutional change, the Guide offers a wide range of examples of how constitutions develop and how their development can establish and entrench democratic values. Beyond comparative examples, the Guide contains in-depth analysis of key components of constitutions and the forces of change that shape them. The Guide analyzes the adoption of the substantive elements of a new constitution by looking at forces for the aggregation or dissemination of governmental power, and forces for greater legalization or politicization of governmental power, and examining how these forces influence the content of the constitution. It urges practitioners to look carefully at the forces at play within their individual contexts in order to better understand constitutional dynamics and play a role in shaping a constitution that will put into place a functioning democratic government and foster lasting peace."--

Constitutions are often seen as the product of the free will of a people exercising their constituent power. This, however, is not always the case, particularly when it comes to ‘imposed constitutions’. In recent years there has been renewed interest in the idea of imposition in constitutional design, but the literature does not yet provide a comprehensive resource to understand the meanings, causes and consequences of an imposed constitution. This volume examines the theoretical and practical questions emerging from what scholars have described as an imposed constitution. A diverse group of contributors interrogates the theory, forms and applications of imposed constitutions with the aim of refining our understanding of this variation on constitution-making. Divided into three parts, this book first considers the conceptualization of imposed constitutions, suggesting definitions, or corrections to the definition, of what exactly an imposed constitution is. The contributors then go on to explore the various ways in which constitutions are, and can be, imposed. The collection concludes by considering imposed constitutions that are currently in place in a number of polities worldwide, problematizing the consequences their imposition has caused. Cases are drawn from a broad range of countries with examples at both the national and supranational level. This book addresses some of the most important issues discussed in contemporary constitutional law: the relationship between constituent and constituted power, the source of constitutional legitimacy, the challenge of foreign and expert intervention and the role of comparative constitutional studies in constitution-making. The volume will be a valuable resource for those interested in the phenomenon of imposed constitutionalism as well as anyone interested in the current trends in the study of comparative constitutional law.

This book examines different approaches by which states characterised by federal or decentralized arrangements reconcile equality and autonomy. In case studies from four continents, leading experts analyse the challenges of ensuring institutional, social and economic equality whilst respecting the competences of regions and the rights of groups.

European Union in the Global Context explores the interplay between the state and state sovereignty, nationalism, European integration and globalisation. It provides essential foundations in these areas, while using stimulating arguments to prompt discussion and provoke interest in the relationships between these processes. It critically analyses the challenges faced by the EU from the contemporary political and economic dynamics of globalisation (IPE), including trading relationships set through the WTO and bilateral relations with emerging markets, especially the BRICS economies. Likewise, pressures from within, such as a resurgence of nationalism, localisation, anti-austerity politics, and Euroscepticism, are examined. While the Union is fundamentally challenged by pressures from above and below, and by its own internal dysfunction, it remains central to the effective management of the international political economy. European Union in the Global Context is a lively, focused and engaging text, incorporating anecdotes and contemporary arguments, and presenting different perspectives on European integration and globalisation. It will be of key interest to students of European Politics, European Studies, European Union Studies, and more broadly, global political economy, foreign and security policy and international relations.