Constitutionalizing the Private Sphere
A Comparative Inquiry

Applies republican theory as a new lens to understand the horizontal application of rights to private actors across the globe.

Christina R. Bambrick (Author)

9781009293730, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 6 February 2025

320 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 2.3 cm, 0.61 kg

Do private actors have constitutional duties? While traditionally only government actors are responsible for upholding constitutional rights, courts and constitution-makers increasingly do assign constitutional duties to private actors as well. Therefore, a landlord may have constitutional duties to their tenants, and a sports club may even have duties to its fans. This book argues that this phenomenon of applying rights 'horizontally' can be understood through the lens of republican political theory. Themes echoing such concepts as the common good and civic duty from republican thought recur in discourses surrounding horizontal application. Bambrick traces republican themes in debates from the United States, India, Germany, South Africa, and the European Union. While these contexts have vastly different histories and aspirations, constitutional actors in each place have considered the horizontal application of rights and, in doing so, have made republican arguments.

1. Introduction
2. A republican vein in liberal constitutionalism
Part I. Equality: 3. The United States: equality along the public-private divide
4. India: citizens' duties in aspiring to equality
Part II. Transformation: 5. Germany: new tensions amid radiating values
6. South Africa: toward societal transformation
7. The European union: republicanism in supranational context
8. Conclusion
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Constitutional & administrative law [LND]