An Historical Introduction to Western Constitutional Law

An Historical Introduction to Western Constitutional Law PDF

Author: R. C. van Caenegem

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1995-03-23

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 9780521476935

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The constitutional question is of paramount importance in the political and nationalist agenda of late twentieth-century Europe. Professor van Caenegem's new book addresses fundamental questions of constitutional organisation: democracy versus autocracy, unitary versus federal organisation, pluralism versus intolerance, by analysing different models of constitutional government through an historical perspective. The approach is chronological: constitutionalism is explained as the result of many centuries of trial and error through a narrative which begins in the early Middle Ages and concludes with contemporary debates, focusing on Europe, the United States, and the Soviet Union. Special attention is devoted to the rise of the rule of law, and of constitutional, parliamentary, and federal forms of government. The epilogue discusses the future of liberal democracy as a universal model.

Western Constitutionalism

Western Constitutionalism PDF

Author: Andrea Buratti

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-01-07

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 3319993380

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This innovative textbook provides an introduction into comparative constitutional law to undergraduate and graduate students. Combining a clear and practical explanation of the topics with scientific knowledge, the textbook analyzes the origins and the development of constitutional law in the Western world, as well as the structure and transformations of constitutional law, up to the present day. It also examines the theoretical roots and the historical premises of constitutionalism, and explores the foundation of constitutional law in Western countries since the Age of Revolutions and the 19th Century, underlining the different constitutional traditions. Furthermore, the textbook describes the transformations of constitutional law brought about by the transition toward pluralistic societies, and analyzes the political and legal features of constitutional democracies, taking into consideration the lessons learned in several constitutional environments in contemporary states. It also discusses the global expansion of the pattern of Western constitutionalism and the contemporary challenges in the age of globalization, focusing on the development of a European constitutional space.

An Introduction to the Constitutional Law of the United States

An Introduction to the Constitutional Law of the United States PDF

Author: John Norton Pomeroy

Publisher: Legare Street Press

Published: 2022-10-27

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781016346160

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

An Introduction to the Local Constitutional History of the United States, Vol. 1 (Classic Reprint)

An Introduction to the Local Constitutional History of the United States, Vol. 1 (Classic Reprint) PDF

Author: George Elliott Howard

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2015-07-08

Total Pages: 552

ISBN-13: 9781330942703

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Excerpt from An Introduction to the Local Constitutional History of the United States, Vol. 1 Since the appearance of Freeman's Comparative Politics the theory of an English local constitution whose origin is coeval with the origin of the race has become familiar to every scholar. In that work the real extent and the real limitations of our common Aryan heritage were first disclosed. Already an extensive monographic literature, every day increasing, bears witness to the high value set upon the study of local institutions. But it is a noteworthy fact that local constitutional history, as a unity deserving of sustained and comprehensive treatment, has as yet found few expounders. Bishop Stubbs, it is true, in his account of the higher organism has assigned to the lower its proper space and rank. George Waitz has rendered a similar service for Germany; and the evolution of the mark, village, and other communities on the Continent, has been described at great length by George L.v. Maurer. But the treatise of Dr. Gneist is the only work of first rate importance which has yet been devoted exclusively to the history of local self-government in England. This book, however, is a practical demonstration that the history of the local constitution, for weight and dignity, may rightly take its place on a level with that of the state itself. No compendious treatise on the development of local institutions in the United States has yet appeared. Indeed, until recently, the attempt to produce such a work, if not premature, would at least have proved extremely difficult. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The Constitution of Freedom

The Constitution of Freedom PDF

Author: András Sajó

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017-11-04

Total Pages: 450

ISBN-13: 0191046043

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Constitutional democracy is more fragile and less 'natural' than autocracy. While this may sound surprising to complacent democrats, more and more people find autocracy attractive, because they were never forced to understand or imagine what despotism is. Generations who have lived in stable democracies with the promise that their enviable world will become the global 'normal' find government rule without constitutionalism difficult to conceive. It is difficult, but never too late, to see one's own constitutional system as something that is fragile, or up for grabs and in need of constant attention and care. In this book, András Sajó and Renáta Uitz explore how constitutionalism protects us and how it might be undone by its own means. Sajó and Uitz's intellectual history of the constitutional ideal is rich in contextual detail and informed by case studies that give an overview of both the theory and practice of constitutionalism worldwide. Classic constitutions are contrasted with twentieth-century and contemporary endeavours, and experimentations in checks and balances. Their endeavour is neither apologetic (and certainly not celebratory), nor purely defensive: this book demonstrates why constitutionalism should continue to matter. Between the rise of populist, anti-constitutional sentiment and the normalization of the apparatus of counter-terrorism, it is imperative that the political communities who seek to sustain democracy as freedom understand the importance of constitutionalism. This book is essential reading for students of law and general readers without prior knowledge of the field, as well as those in politics who believe they know how government works. It shows what is at stake in the debate on constitutionalism.

The "higher Law" Background of American Constitutional Law

The

Author: Edward Samuel Corwin

Publisher:

Published: 1955

Total Pages: 112

ISBN-13:

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Having written extensively on various aspects of the American constitutional order, Edward S Corwin is considered a leading constitutional scholar of the twentieth century. Alpheus Mason described Corwin's writings as 'sources of learning and understanding - hallmarks to emulate and revere'. "The Higher Law Background of American Constitutional Law" is of unique value in connecting the Western European experience - from the classical world, the Middle Ages, and the seventeenth-century thought of Coke and Locke - to the American founding. This renowned work provides a bold and accurate outline of the tradition behind the 'higher law' of the United States and places in historical context the political philosophy underlying the US Declaration of Independence and Constitution. This volume addresses questions such as: where did the idea of a 'higher law' originate? how has it been able to survive and in what transformations? what special forms of it are of particular interest for historians and political theorists? and; how was it brought to America and wrought into the American system of government? As Clinton Rossiter notes in his prefatory note, 'No one can come away from reading ("Higher Law") without realizing how much we in America are part of Western civilization. The men we meet in the pages of this essay - Demosthenes, Sophocles, Aristotle, Cicero, Seneca, Ulpian, Gaius, John of Salisbury, Isidore of Seville, St. Thomas Aquinas, Bracton, Fortescue, Coke, Grotius, Newton, Hooker, Pufendorf, Locke, Blackstone - all insisted that the laws by which men live can and should be the 'embodiment of essential and unchanging justice', and we may salute them respectfully as founding fathers of our experiment in ordered liberty'. In this volume Corwin demonstrates how the concept of a higher law developed and was understood by the leading thinkers of the American Revolutionary period as well as how the ideal of the higher law impacted the creation of the American Constitution. Students, scholars, and general interested readers of constitutional law and political theory will find inspiration in the pages of "The Higher Law Background of American Constitutional Law".