The Sociology of Law and the Global Transformation of Democracy

Provides a new legal-sociological theory of democracy, reflecting the impact of global law on national political institutions. This title is also available as Open Access.

Chris Thornhill (Author)

9781107199903, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 21 June 2018

596 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 3 cm, 1.07 kg

'Here, [Thornhill] reexamines modern democracy's historical transformation from its revolutionary beginnings in the late 18th century to its consolidation after 1945. Thornhill rejects the metaphysical concepts of classical democratic theory that centered on the political will of the citizen as the basis for democratic organization. Taking instead a legal-sociological perspective, he argues that the rise of global democracy after 1945 resulted from the emergence of international human rights law … Highly recommended.' A. Javier Treviño, Choice

This book provides a new legal-sociological account of contemporary democracy. It is based on a revision of standard positions in democratic theory, reflecting the impact of global legal norms on the institutions of national states. Chris Thornhill argues that the establishment of fully democratic, fully inclusive governance systems in national societies was generally impeded by inner-societal structural factors, and that inclusive patterns of democratic citizenship only evolved on the foundation of global legal norms that were consolidated after 1945. He claims that this process can be best understood through a transposition of key insights of classical legal sociology onto the form of global society. Extensive analysis of select case studies in different regions illustrate these claims. Thornhill offers a sociological theory of global law to explain contemporary processes of democratic integration and institutional formation, and contemporary constructions of citizenship and political rights. This title is also available as Open Access.

Introduction
1. The paradox of democracy and the sociology of law
2. National democracy and global law
3. Before the law?
4. Politics becomes the law
5. The reconstruction of democratic agency
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Law & society [LAQ], Political structures: democracy [JPHV]