{"product_id":"the-promise-of-human-rights-constitutional-government-democratic-legitimacy-and-international-law-paperback-softback-9780812224580","title":"The Promise of Human Rights; Constitutional Government, Democratic Legitimacy, and International Law (Paperback \/ softback) 9780812224580","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eThe Promise of Human Rights\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eConstitutional Government, Democratic Legitimacy, and International Law\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eJamie Mayerfeld (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9780812224580\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePaperback \/ softback, published 4 October 2019\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e320 pages\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.666 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\"Jamie Mayerfeld's \u003ci\u003eThe Promise of Human Rights\u003c\/i\u003e is a timely corrective to persistent misconceptions about international human rights law's relationship to United States sovereignty and democracy. At a moment when 'American Exceptionalism' has re-emerged, in a new and crasser form, as a normative challenge to compliance with international legal constraints, Mayerfeld reminds us of American democracy's roots in a Madisonian tradition that emphasizes the complex challenges of self-government and the need for checks on the concentration of power. Mayerfeld correctly notes that national sovereignty, far from precluding international legal obligations, is precisely what is exercised in the undertaking of such obligations.\" (\u003ci\u003eHuman Rights Review\u003c\/i\u003e) \"Jamie Mayerfeld's new book is an important contribution to both scholarly and popular debates about the legitimacy of international human rights law. . . . Mayerfeld's analysis effectively connects the specific strategies designed to limit the influence of international human rights law on US domestic law to how these specific moves were later exploited by Bush administration officials to legitimize torture.\" (\u003ci\u003eEthics\u003c\/i\u003e) \"\u003ci\u003eThe Promise of Human Rights: Constitutional Government, Democratic Legitimacy, and International Law\u003c\/i\u003e is a compelling analysis of American exceptionalism and international human rights law. . . . [It] is a rich contribution to literatures on human rights and democratic theory and on America's place in the world, as well as the empirical literature on European institutions.\" (\u003ci\u003eThe Journal of Politics\u003c\/i\u003e) \"This is a remarkable book. . . . [It] offers a valuable and much needed reminder: International human rights law is not only about improving the practices of other countries (an 'outward looking' justification) but also about improving the practices of one's own country (an 'inward looking' justification). . . . A very good read.\" (\u003ci\u003ePerspectives on Politics\u003c\/i\u003e) \"Carefully researched and clearly written, the book has much relevance to contemporary times.\" (\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e) \"One of the most important of the powerful arguments in this wide-ranging book is its demonstration that the marginalization of international human rights in U.S. legal culture facilitated the 'moral and legal wreckage' and the 'strategic calamity' recently produced by torture.\" (Henry Shue, University of Oxford) \"Jamie Mayerfeld's book is an important contribution to democratic theory and to human rights scholarship. His reasoning is lucid, the research careful, and the breadth impressive.\" (Michael Goodhart, University of Pittsburgh) \"\u003ci\u003eThe Promise of Human Rights\u003c\/i\u003e speaks directly to U.S. debates about the appropriate relationship between international human rights law and domestic law and places the debates firmly within the context of torture in the War on Terror. Jamie Mayerfeld contributes an original addition to the scholarship.\" (Fiona de Londras, University of Birmingham)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eInternational human rights law is sometimes criticized as an infringement of constitutional democracy. Against this view, Jamie Mayerfeld argues that international human rights law provides a necessary extension of checks and balances and therefore completes the domestic constitutional order. In today's world, constitutional democracy is best understood as a cooperative project enlisting both domestic and international guardians to strengthen the protection of human rights. Reasons to support this view may be found in the political philosophy of James Madison, the principal architect of the U.S. Constitution.\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Promise of Human Rights\u003c\/i\u003e presents sustained theoretical discussions of human rights, constitutionalism, democracy, and sovereignty, along with an extended case study of divergent transatlantic approaches to human rights. Mayerfeld shows that the embrace of international human rights law has inhibited human rights violations in Europe whereas its marginalization has facilitated human rights violations in the United States. A longstanding policy of \"American exceptionalism\" was a major contributing factor to the Bush administration's use of torture after 9\/11.\u003cbr\u003e Mounting a combination of theoretical and empirical arguments, Mayerfeld concludes that countries genuinely committed to constitutional democracy should incorporate international human rights law into their domestic legal system and accept international oversight of their human rights practices.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIntroduction\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 1. Human Rights\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 2. Madison's Compound Republic and the Logic of Checks and Balances\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 3. Europe and the Virtues of International Constitutionalism\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 4. American Exceptionalism and the Betrayal of Human Rights, Part I: The Torture Memos\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 5. American Exceptionalism and the Betrayal of Human Rights, Part II: Enabling Torture\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 6. The Democratic Legitimacy of International Human Rights Law\u003cbr\u003e Conclusion\u003cbr\u003e Notes\u003cbr\u003e Index\u003cbr\u003e Acknowledgments\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"University of Pennsylvania Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52555691917592,"sku":"9780812224580","price":24.36,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/the-promise-of-human-rights-constitutional-government-democratic-legitimacy-and-international-law-paperback-softback-9780812224580","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}