Constituting Democracy
Law, Globalism and South Africa's Political Reconstruction

This book explores the role of constitutionalism in facilitating political change in South Africa.

Heinz Klug (Author)

9780521781138, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 4 September 2000

284 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.59 kg

'Constituting Democracy is essential reading for anyone who is interested in comparative constitutionalism, the politics of constitutional adjudication, and the role of the Constitutional Court in South Africa's democratic transition. It is an important attempt to rethink the relationship between democracy and constitutionalism, as well as between the global and the local. It is original, engaging, perceptive and well written.' Journal of Public Law

Against the backdrop of South Africa's transition from apartheid, this provocative book explores the role of late twentieth century constitutionalism in facilitating political change. Using South Africa as a case study, Klug's larger project is to investigate why there has been renewed faith in justiciable constitutions and democratic constitutionalism despite the widespread recognition that courts are institutionally weak, lack adequate resources and are largely inaccessible to most citizens. He places this question in a broader context, evaluating the appeal of different constitutional models and illustrating how globalized institutions can be adapted to serve local domestic needs. Incorporating constitutional law, politics and legal history, this examination of South Africa's constitution-making process provides important insights into the role of law in the transition to democracy.

Introduction
1. Post twentieth-century constitutionalism?
2. Legal legacies and constitutional paths
3. Constitutionalism in global perspective
4. Constitutional strategies
5. Constitutionalism in the democratic transition
6. Global impact: international imperatives and their hybridization
7. The constitutional court and the institutional dynamics of constitutionalism
8. Constitutional imaginations and the possibilities of justice.

Subject Areas: Regional studies [GTB]