The Endurance of National Constitutions

The Endurance of National Constitutions

Author: Zachary Elkins

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2009-10-19

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 0521515505

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Based on original historical data, this book shows that key changes in design can extend constitutional life.


Book Synopsis The Endurance of National Constitutions by : Zachary Elkins

Download or read book The Endurance of National Constitutions written by Zachary Elkins and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2009-10-19 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on original historical data, this book shows that key changes in design can extend constitutional life.


Comparative Constitutions

Comparative Constitutions

Author: L.Wolf- Phillips

Publisher: Springer

Published: 1972-06-18

Total Pages: 80

ISBN-13: 1349015296

DOWNLOAD EBOOK


Book Synopsis Comparative Constitutions by : L.Wolf- Phillips

Download or read book Comparative Constitutions written by L.Wolf- Phillips and published by Springer. This book was released on 1972-06-18 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


How to Save a Constitutional Democracy

How to Save a Constitutional Democracy

Author: Tom Ginsburg

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2018-10-05

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 022656438X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Democracies are in danger. Around the world, a rising wave of populist leaders threatens to erode the core structures of democratic self rule. In the United States, the election of Donald Trump marked a decisive turning point for many. What kind of president calls the news media the “enemy of the American people,” or sees a moral equivalence between violent neo-Nazi protesters in paramilitary formation and residents of a college town defending the racial and ethnic diversity of their homes? Yet, whatever our concerns about the current president, we can be assured that the Constitution offers safeguards to protect against lasting damage—or can we? How to Save a Constitutional Democracy mounts an urgent argument that we can no longer afford to be complacent. Drawing on a rich array of other countries’ experiences with democratic backsliding, Tom Ginsburg and Aziz Z. Huq show how constitutional rules can either hinder or hasten the decline of democratic institutions. The checks and balances of the federal government, a robust civil society and media, and individual rights—such as those enshrined in the First Amendment—do not necessarily succeed as bulwarks against democratic decline. Rather, Ginsburg and Huq contend, the sobering reality for the United States is that, to a much greater extent than is commonly realized, the Constitution’s design makes democratic erosion more, not less, likely. Its structural rigidity has had the unforeseen consequence of empowering the Supreme Court to fill in some details—often with doctrines that ultimately facilitate rather than inhibit the infringement of rights. Even the bright spots in the Constitution—the First Amendment, for example—may have perverse consequences in the hands of a deft communicator, who can degrade the public sphere by wielding hateful language that would be banned in many other democracies. But we—and the rest of the world—can do better. The authors conclude by laying out practical steps for how laws and constitutional design can play a more positive role in managing the risk of democratic decline.


Book Synopsis How to Save a Constitutional Democracy by : Tom Ginsburg

Download or read book How to Save a Constitutional Democracy written by Tom Ginsburg and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2018-10-05 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Democracies are in danger. Around the world, a rising wave of populist leaders threatens to erode the core structures of democratic self rule. In the United States, the election of Donald Trump marked a decisive turning point for many. What kind of president calls the news media the “enemy of the American people,” or sees a moral equivalence between violent neo-Nazi protesters in paramilitary formation and residents of a college town defending the racial and ethnic diversity of their homes? Yet, whatever our concerns about the current president, we can be assured that the Constitution offers safeguards to protect against lasting damage—or can we? How to Save a Constitutional Democracy mounts an urgent argument that we can no longer afford to be complacent. Drawing on a rich array of other countries’ experiences with democratic backsliding, Tom Ginsburg and Aziz Z. Huq show how constitutional rules can either hinder or hasten the decline of democratic institutions. The checks and balances of the federal government, a robust civil society and media, and individual rights—such as those enshrined in the First Amendment—do not necessarily succeed as bulwarks against democratic decline. Rather, Ginsburg and Huq contend, the sobering reality for the United States is that, to a much greater extent than is commonly realized, the Constitution’s design makes democratic erosion more, not less, likely. Its structural rigidity has had the unforeseen consequence of empowering the Supreme Court to fill in some details—often with doctrines that ultimately facilitate rather than inhibit the infringement of rights. Even the bright spots in the Constitution—the First Amendment, for example—may have perverse consequences in the hands of a deft communicator, who can degrade the public sphere by wielding hateful language that would be banned in many other democracies. But we—and the rest of the world—can do better. The authors conclude by laying out practical steps for how laws and constitutional design can play a more positive role in managing the risk of democratic decline.


Constitutions in Authoritarian Regimes

Constitutions in Authoritarian Regimes

Author: Tom Ginsburg

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 283

ISBN-13: 1107047668

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This volume explores the form and function of constitutions in countries without the fully articulated institutions of limited government.


Book Synopsis Constitutions in Authoritarian Regimes by : Tom Ginsburg

Download or read book Constitutions in Authoritarian Regimes written by Tom Ginsburg and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2014 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume explores the form and function of constitutions in countries without the fully articulated institutions of limited government.


The Dead Hand's Grip

The Dead Hand's Grip

Author: Adam R. Brown

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2022-08-27

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 0197655300

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In The Dead Hand's Grip, Adam R. Brown examines constitutional specificity--or length--as a new way to evaluate how different polities govern citizens and regulate themselves. As Brown shows, many states and nations bloat their constitutions with procedural and policy details that other polities leave to statutory or regulatory discretion. American state constitutions vary in length from under 9,000 to almost 400,000 words. Constitutional endurance has often provoked fears that the dead hand of the past may reach into the present; lengthy constitutions strengthen the dead hand's grip, binding states to a former generation's solutions to modern problems. Brown argues that excessive constitutional specificity restricts state discretion, with three major results. First, it compels states to rely more frequently on burdensome amendment procedures, increasing constitutional amendment rates. Second, it increases judicial invalidation rates as state supreme courts enforce narrower limits on state action. Third and most importantly, it results in severely reduced economic performance, with lower incomes, higher unemployment, greater inequality, and reduced policy innovativeness generally. In short, long constitutions hurt states. While Brown's analysis focuses on just one set of sub-national constitutions, their broad functions make his thesis relevant to those wanting to understand institutional variation between nations.


Book Synopsis The Dead Hand's Grip by : Adam R. Brown

Download or read book The Dead Hand's Grip written by Adam R. Brown and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022-08-27 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Dead Hand's Grip, Adam R. Brown examines constitutional specificity--or length--as a new way to evaluate how different polities govern citizens and regulate themselves. As Brown shows, many states and nations bloat their constitutions with procedural and policy details that other polities leave to statutory or regulatory discretion. American state constitutions vary in length from under 9,000 to almost 400,000 words. Constitutional endurance has often provoked fears that the dead hand of the past may reach into the present; lengthy constitutions strengthen the dead hand's grip, binding states to a former generation's solutions to modern problems. Brown argues that excessive constitutional specificity restricts state discretion, with three major results. First, it compels states to rely more frequently on burdensome amendment procedures, increasing constitutional amendment rates. Second, it increases judicial invalidation rates as state supreme courts enforce narrower limits on state action. Third and most importantly, it results in severely reduced economic performance, with lower incomes, higher unemployment, greater inequality, and reduced policy innovativeness generally. In short, long constitutions hurt states. While Brown's analysis focuses on just one set of sub-national constitutions, their broad functions make his thesis relevant to those wanting to understand institutional variation between nations.


Assessing Constitutional Performance

Assessing Constitutional Performance

Author: Tom Ginsburg

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2016-08-30

Total Pages: 447

ISBN-13: 1107154790

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This volume challenges the concept of constitutional success, a bedrock assumption of comparative constitutional scholarship.


Book Synopsis Assessing Constitutional Performance by : Tom Ginsburg

Download or read book Assessing Constitutional Performance written by Tom Ginsburg and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-08-30 with total page 447 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume challenges the concept of constitutional success, a bedrock assumption of comparative constitutional scholarship.


Comparative Constitutional Design

Comparative Constitutional Design

Author: Tom Ginsburg

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2012-02-27

Total Pages: 407

ISBN-13: 1107020565

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Assesses what we know - and do not know - about comparative constitutional design and particular institutional choices concerning executive power and other issues.


Book Synopsis Comparative Constitutional Design by : Tom Ginsburg

Download or read book Comparative Constitutional Design written by Tom Ginsburg and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-02-27 with total page 407 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Assesses what we know - and do not know - about comparative constitutional design and particular institutional choices concerning executive power and other issues.


Constitution Makers on Constitution Making

Constitution Makers on Constitution Making

Author: Tom Ginsburg

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2022-10-31

Total Pages: 291

ISBN-13: 1108830323

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This edited volume examines constitution-making from the perspective of those directly engaged in the process in different countries around the world.


Book Synopsis Constitution Makers on Constitution Making by : Tom Ginsburg

Download or read book Constitution Makers on Constitution Making written by Tom Ginsburg and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-10-31 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edited volume examines constitution-making from the perspective of those directly engaged in the process in different countries around the world.


The Cycles of Constitutional Time

The Cycles of Constitutional Time

Author: Jack M. Balkin

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 0197530990

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"America's constitutional system evolves through the interplay between three cycles: the rise and fall of dominant political parties, the waxing and waning of political polarization, and alternating episodes of constitutional rot and constitutional renewal. America's politics seems especially fraught today because we are nearing the end of the Republican Party's long political dominance, at the height of a long cycle of political polarization, and suffering from an advanced case of "constitutional rot." Constitutional rot is the historical process through which republics become increasingly less representative and less devoted to the common good. Caused by increasing economic inequality and loss of trust, constitutional rot seriously threatens the constitutional system. But America has been through these cycles before, and will get through them again. America is in a Second Gilded Age slowly moving toward a second Progressive Era, during which polarization will eventually recede. The same cycles shape the work of the federal courts and theories about constitutional interpretation. They explain why political parties have switched sides on judicial review not once but twice in the twentieth century. Polarization and constitutional rot alter the political supports for judicial review, make fights over judicial appointments especially bitter, and encourage constitutional hardball. The Constitution ordinarily relies on the judiciary to protect democracy and to prevent political corruption and self-entrenching behavior. But when constitutional rot is advanced, the Supreme Court is likely to be ineffective and may even make matters worse. Courts cannot save the country from constitutional rot; only political mobilization can"--


Book Synopsis The Cycles of Constitutional Time by : Jack M. Balkin

Download or read book The Cycles of Constitutional Time written by Jack M. Balkin and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2020 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "America's constitutional system evolves through the interplay between three cycles: the rise and fall of dominant political parties, the waxing and waning of political polarization, and alternating episodes of constitutional rot and constitutional renewal. America's politics seems especially fraught today because we are nearing the end of the Republican Party's long political dominance, at the height of a long cycle of political polarization, and suffering from an advanced case of "constitutional rot." Constitutional rot is the historical process through which republics become increasingly less representative and less devoted to the common good. Caused by increasing economic inequality and loss of trust, constitutional rot seriously threatens the constitutional system. But America has been through these cycles before, and will get through them again. America is in a Second Gilded Age slowly moving toward a second Progressive Era, during which polarization will eventually recede. The same cycles shape the work of the federal courts and theories about constitutional interpretation. They explain why political parties have switched sides on judicial review not once but twice in the twentieth century. Polarization and constitutional rot alter the political supports for judicial review, make fights over judicial appointments especially bitter, and encourage constitutional hardball. The Constitution ordinarily relies on the judiciary to protect democracy and to prevent political corruption and self-entrenching behavior. But when constitutional rot is advanced, the Supreme Court is likely to be ineffective and may even make matters worse. Courts cannot save the country from constitutional rot; only political mobilization can"--


Comparative Administrative Law

Comparative Administrative Law

Author: Frank J. Goodnow

Publisher:

Published: 1893

Total Pages: 724

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK


Book Synopsis Comparative Administrative Law by : Frank J. Goodnow

Download or read book Comparative Administrative Law written by Frank J. Goodnow and published by . This book was released on 1893 with total page 724 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: