The Political Dimension Of Constitutional Law

This book discusses in what sense constitutional law has a political dimension, raising the question whether constitutional law is fundamentally political as to its validity, terms of its origin, conceptual structure and/or corresponding practice. It also poses the question whether that dimension is a political-theological dimension. A positive answer to these questions challenges the prevailing view that constitutional law is to be conceived strictly as law, moreover as written law, approved at a certain point in history by a particular power and interpreted as any other law by the judiciary. The essays included in this book, written by leading scholars in constitutional theory – including Martin Loughlin, Paul Kahn, Manon Altwegg-Boussac and Massimo La Torre – address these questions in a timely and original way.

This book discusses in what sense constitutional law has a political dimension, raising the question whether constitutional law is fundamentally political as to its validity, terms of its origin, conceptual structure and/or corresponding practice. It also poses the question whether that dimension is a political-theological dimension. A positive answer to these questions challenges the prevailing view that constitutional law is to be conceived strictly as law, moreover as written law, approved at a certain point in history by a particular power and interpreted as any other law by the judiciary. The essays included in this book, written by leading scholars in constitutional theory - including Martin Loughlin, Paul Kahn, Manon Altwegg-Boussac and Massimo La Torre - address these questions in a timely and original way.

In a critical engagement with the function of public law and with constitutionalism in its political dimensions, this volume brings together the reflections of three leading constitutionalists: Martin Loughlin, James Tully and Frank Michelman. Comprising three critical commentaries on each, it addresses the multiple ways in which public law is implicated in the logic of rule. This operates on the one hand in maintaining and underwriting relative patterns of power and weakness through political structures and processes. On the other hand, public law is considered to contain the potential to redress these patterns through the use of constitutional authority, social and economic as well as civil and political rights, redistribution of political power, the expansion of territorial governance, and moves to supra-state levels of authority. The book reproduces, in a succinct and organized way, the insights into both the limitations and the potentialities of public law within its political setting.

This short and accessible book provides a provocative re-assessment of the various tangled relationships between law and politics and in so doing examines legal and political thinking on such critical areas as justice,the state, constitutionalism and rights. It introduces lawyers especially to certain important themes in some of the key texts in political thought and introduces political scientists to the legal dimensions of a number of central themes of political studies. Written by one of the leading theorists in constitutional law, the book should prove to be an indispensable companion for any student or teacher interested in law and politics. Contents I. Law and Politics in the Conversation of Mankind II. Justice III. The State IV. Constitutionalism V. Conclusions

One of the hallmarks of the present era is the discourse surrounding Human Rights and the need for the law to recognise them. Various national and supranational human rights instruments have been developed and implemented in order to transition society away from atrocity and callousness toward a more just and inclusive future. In some countries this is done by means of an overarching constitution, while in others international conventions or ordinary legislation hold sway. Contract law plays a pivotal role in this context. According to many, this is done through the much-debated ‘civilising mission’ of the contract, a notion which itself constitutes the canon of the Western liberal principle of ‘civilised economy’. The movement away from the belief in the absolute freedom of contract, which reached its zenith in the nineteenth century, to the principles of fairness and justice that underpin contract law today, is often deemed to be a testament to this civilising influence. Delving into the interplay between human rights policies, constitutional law, and contract law from both theoretical and practical perspectives, this first volume of a two-book collection offers a totally new reappraisal of the subject by gathering a collection of essays written by contract law scholars from Europe, South Africa, Canada, and Australia. Instead of providing the reader with a sterile compilation of positivistic norms and policies on the impact of fundamental rights and constitutional law issues on contract law’s development, the authors build on their personal experience to analyse specific topics related to contracting that include a constitutional dimension. The book fills an important void in comparative law scholarship and in so doing represents the starting point for further debate on the subject.

Offers a public law theory that elaborates the idea of human dignity to illuminate and justify innovations in constitutional practice.

Bold and unconventional, this book advocates for an institutional turn-about in the relationship between democracy and constitutionalism.

An excellent sampling of current thinking in the theory and practice of constitutionalism. Each essay was written specifically for this volume by well-known legal and political philosophers. . . . All in all, a first-rate and provocative example of contemporary philosophical concerns. Choice In our constitutional democracy, the dissent and conflict that are the inevitable consequence of free political dialogue point to the importance of reexamining the philosophical premises on which our conceptions of society and government are based. This volume of original essays reviews the foundations of constitutionalism in classical liberal thought and looks at contemporary philosophical perspectives on a wide range of constitutional issues. Written by a distinguished group of philosophers and constitutional scholars, it provides a deeper understanding of the U.S. Constitution as a political instrument and examines the idea of constitutionalism as it functions in our modern world.