Towards Juristocracy

Towards Juristocracy PDF Author: Ran Hirschl
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674038677
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
In countries and supranational entities around the globe, constitutional reform has transferred an unprecedented amount of power from representative institutions to judiciaries. The constitutionalization of rights and the establishment of judicial review are widely believed to have benevolent and progressive origins, and significant redistributive, power-diffusing consequences. Ran Hirschl challenges this conventional wisdom. Drawing upon a comprehensive comparative inquiry into the political origins and legal consequences of the recent constitutional revolutions in Canada, Israel, New Zealand, and South Africa, Hirschl shows that the trend toward constitutionalization is hardly driven by politicians' genuine commitment to democracy, social justice, or universal rights. Rather, it is best understood as the product of a strategic interplay among hegemonic yet threatened political elites, influential economic stakeholders, and judicial leaders. This self-interested coalition of legal innovators determines the timing, extent, and nature of constitutional reforms. Hirschl demonstrates that whereas judicial empowerment through constitutionalization has a limited impact on advancing progressive notions of distributive justice, it has a transformative effect on political discourse. The global trend toward juristocracy, Hirschl argues, is part of a broader process whereby political and economic elites, while they profess support for democracy and sustained development, attempt to insulate policymaking from the vicissitudes of democratic politics.

Towards Juristocracy

Towards Juristocracy PDF Author: Ran Hirschl
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674038677
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
In countries and supranational entities around the globe, constitutional reform has transferred an unprecedented amount of power from representative institutions to judiciaries. The constitutionalization of rights and the establishment of judicial review are widely believed to have benevolent and progressive origins, and significant redistributive, power-diffusing consequences. Ran Hirschl challenges this conventional wisdom. Drawing upon a comprehensive comparative inquiry into the political origins and legal consequences of the recent constitutional revolutions in Canada, Israel, New Zealand, and South Africa, Hirschl shows that the trend toward constitutionalization is hardly driven by politicians' genuine commitment to democracy, social justice, or universal rights. Rather, it is best understood as the product of a strategic interplay among hegemonic yet threatened political elites, influential economic stakeholders, and judicial leaders. This self-interested coalition of legal innovators determines the timing, extent, and nature of constitutional reforms. Hirschl demonstrates that whereas judicial empowerment through constitutionalization has a limited impact on advancing progressive notions of distributive justice, it has a transformative effect on political discourse. The global trend toward juristocracy, Hirschl argues, is part of a broader process whereby political and economic elites, while they profess support for democracy and sustained development, attempt to insulate policymaking from the vicissitudes of democratic politics.

Comparative Matters

Comparative Matters PDF Author: Ran Hirschl
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0198714513
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 317

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Book Description
Charting the history and analytical underpinnings of comparative constitutional inquiry, this book probes the various types, aims, and methodologies of engagement with the constitutive laws of others through the ages. It explores how and why comparative constitutional inquiry has been and ought to be pursued by academics and jurists worldwide.

Juristocracy

Juristocracy PDF Author: Béla Pokol
Publisher:
ISBN: 9786155164804
Category : Constitutional courts
Languages : en
Pages : 482

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Book Description


Constitutional Theocracy

Constitutional Theocracy PDF Author: Ran Hirschl
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674048199
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Book Description
Ran Hirschl undertakes a rigorous comparative analysis of religion-and-state jurisprudence from dozens of countries worldwide to explore the evolving role of constitutional law and courts in a non-secularist world. --from publisher description.

The Constitution in Conflict

The Constitution in Conflict PDF Author: Robert A. Burt
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674165366
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 492

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Book Description
In a remarkably innovative reconstruction of constitutional history, Robert Burt traces the controversy over judicial supremacy back to the founding fathers. Also drawing extensively on Lincoln's conception of political equality, Burt argues convincingly that judicial supremacy and majority rule are both inconsistent with the egalitarian democratic ideal. The first fully articulated presentation of the Constitution as a communally interpreted document in which the Supreme Court plays an important but not predominant role, The Constitution in Conflict has dramatic implications for both the theory and the practice of constitutional law.

Nonsense upon Stilts (Routledge Revivals)

Nonsense upon Stilts (Routledge Revivals) PDF Author: Jeremy Waldron
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317587219
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
In Nonsense upon Stilts ̧ first published in 1987, Waldron includes and discusses extracts from three classic critiques of the idea of natural rights embodied in the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. Each text is prefaced by an historical introduction and an analysis of its main themes. The collection as a whole in introduced with an essay tracing the philosophical background to the three critiques as well as the eighteenth-century idea of natural rights which they attacked. But the point of reproducing these works is not merely historical. Modern attacks on ‘rights-based’ political philosophy mirror the concerns of Bentham, Burke and Marx. Jeremy Waldron has therefore added an extensive concluding essay which relates these classic texts to the modern discussion of rights and re-examines the idea of rights in the light of contemporary critiques. This text provides an invaluable teaching tool for courses in politics and philosophy.

The Judge

The Judge PDF Author: Ronald K. L. Collins
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190490144
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 297

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Book Description
"Employing the great Florentine theorist as its guide, 'The Judge' describes what judges often do, not what they ought to do."--Book jacket.

Judicial Politics in Mexico

Judicial Politics in Mexico PDF Author: Andrea Castagnola
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1315520591
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 190

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Book Description
After more than seventy years of uninterrupted authoritarian government headed by the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), Mexico formally began the transition to democracy in 2000. Unlike most other new democracies in Latin America, no special Constitutional Court was set up, nor was there any designated bench of the Supreme Court for constitutional adjudication. Instead, the judiciary saw its powers expand incrementally. Under this new context inevitable questions emerged: How have the justices interpreted the constitution? What is the relation of the court with the other political institutions? How much autonomy do justices display in their decisions? Has the court considered the necessary adjustments to face the challenges of democracy? It has become essential in studying the new role of the Supreme Court to obtain a more accurate and detailed diagnosis of the performances of its justices in this new political environment. Through critical review of relevant debates and using original data sets to empirically analyze the way justices voted on the three main means of constitutional control from 2000 through 2011, leading legal scholars provide a thoughtful and much needed new interpretation of the role the judiciary plays in a country’s transition to democracy This book is designed for graduate courses in law and courts, judicial politics, comparative judicial politics, Latin American institutions, and transitions to democracy. This book will equip scholars and students with the knowledge required to understand the importance of the independence of the judiciary in the transition to democracy.

Constitutional Rights in Two Worlds

Constitutional Rights in Two Worlds PDF Author: Mark S. Kende
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521879043
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
This book examines the South African Constitutional Court to determine how it has functioned during the nation's transition.

City, State

City, State PDF Author: Ran Hirschl
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 019092277X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
"More than half the world's population lives in cities; by 2050, it will be more than 75%. Cities are often the economic, cultural, and political drivers of states, and of globalization more generally. Yet, constitutionally-speaking, there has been little to no consideration of cities (and especially megacities, with populations exceeding those of many of the world's countries) as discrete or distinct constitutional or federal entities, with political identities and economic needs that often differ from rural regions or so-called "hinterlands." This book intends to taxonomize the constitutional relationship between states and (mega)cities and theorize a way forward for considering the role of the city in future. In six chapters and a conclusion, the book considers the reason for this "constitutional blind spot," the relationship between cities and hinterlands (the center/periphery divide), constitutional mechanisms for dealing with regional differences, a comparative constitutional analysis of urban-center autonomy, and recent and future innovations in city governance"--