Social and Political Foundations of Constitutions

This volume explores the social and political forces behind constitution making from a global perspective.

Denis J. Galligan (Edited by), Mila Versteeg (Edited by)

9781107546080, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 30 July 2015

694 pages, 2 b/w illus. 4 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 3.5 cm, 0.9 kg

This volume analyses the social and political forces that influence constitutions and the process of constitution making. It combines theoretical perspectives on the social and political foundations of constitutions with a range of detailed case studies from nineteen countries. In the first part leading scholars analyse and develop a range of theoretical perspectives, including constitutions as coordination devices, mission statements, contracts, products of domestic power play, transnational documents, and as reflection of the will of the people. In the second part these theories are examined through in-depth case studies of the social and political foundations of constitutions in countries such as Egypt, Nigeria, Japan, Romania, Bulgaria, New Zealand, Israel, Argentina and others. The result is a multidimensional study of constitutions as social phenomena and their interaction with other social phenomena.

Part I. Introduction: 1. Theoretical perspectives on the social and political foundations of constitutions Denis Galligan and Mila Versteeg
Part II. Theoretical Perspectives: 2. Why a constitution? Russell Hardin
3. Constitutions as mission statements Jeff King
4. Transnational constitutions Benedikt Goderis and Mila Versteeg
5. The people, the constitution, and the idea of representation Denis Galligan
6. The strategic foundations of constitutions Ran Hirschl
7. Constitutions as contract, constitutions as charter Tom Ginsburg
Part III. Case Studies: 8. Accidental constitutionalism: the political foundations and implications of constitution making in Israel Adam Shinar
9. The myth of imposed constitutionalism in Japan David S. Law
10. Social, political, and philosophical foundations of the Irish constitutional order Paul Brady
11. South Sudan's dualistic constitution Kevin L. Cope
12. New Zealand David Erdos
13. The juristic republic of Iran Binesh Hass
14. Neo-Bolivarian constitutional design: comparing the 1999 Venezuelan, 2008 Ecuadorian, and 2009 Bolivian constitutions Phoebe King
15. The constitution as agreement to agree: the social and political foundations (and effects) of the 1971 Egyptian constitution Clark Lombardi
16. Explaining the constitutionalization of social rights: Portuguese hypotheses and a cross national test Pedro Magalhães
17. Popular constitution making: the case of Iceland Anne Meuwese
18. Romania's transnational constitution: a tradition of elite learning and self-empowerment Christina Parau
19. The social and political foundations of the Nigerian constitution Charles H. Parkinson
20. The once and future democracy: Argentina at the bar of constitutionalism Miguel Schor
21. A battle between law and society in Micronesia Brian Z. Tamanaha
22. Constitutionalism of shallow foundations: the case of Bulgaria Daniel Smilov
23. The shifting foundations of the European Union constitution Neil Walker.

Subject Areas: Constitutional & administrative law [LND], Comparative law [LAM], Law [L]