Material Constitution

Material Constitution
Author: Michael Cannon Rea
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 416
Release: 1997
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780847683840

The only anthology available on material constitution, this book collects important recent work on well known puzzles in metaphysics and philosophy of mind. The extensive, clearly written introduction helps to make the essays accessible to a wide audience.

General Theory of Law and State

General Theory of Law and State
Author: Hans Kelsen
Publisher: The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.
Total Pages: 544
Release: 2009
Genre: International law
ISBN: 1584777176

Reprint of the first edition. This classic work by the important Austrian jurist is the fullest exposition of his enormously influential pure theory of law, which includes a theory of the state. It also has an extensive appendix that discusses the pure theory in comparison with the law of nature, positivism, historical natural law, metaphysical dualism and scientific-critical philosophy. "The scope of the work is truly universal. It never loses itself in vague generalities or in unconnected fragments of thought. On the contrary, precision in the formulation of details and rigorous system are characteristic features of the exposition: only a mind fully concentrated upon that logical structure can possibly follow Kelsen's penetrating analysis. Such a mind will not shrink from the effort necessary for acquainting itself with...the pure theory of law in its more general aspects, and will then pass over to the theory of the state which ends up with a carefully worked out theory of international law." Julius Kraft, American Journal of International Law 40 (1946):496.

The Constitution's Gift

The Constitution's Gift
Author: John Erik Fossum
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Total Pages: 316
Release: 2011-01-16
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1442208570

This authoritative study considers all aspects of the European Union's distinctive constitution since its inception. A unique political animal, the EU has given rise to important constitutional conundrums and paradoxes that the authors explore in detail. Their analysis illuminates the distinctive features of the Union's pluralist constitutional construct and provides the tools to understand the Union's development, especially during the Laeken (2001–2005) and Lisbon (2007–2009) processes of constitutional reform and spells out the parallels between the European and the Canadian constitutional experiences. Offering the first history of European constitutional law that is both theoretically informed and normatively grounded, the authors have developed an original theory of constitutional synthesis that will be essential reading for all readers interested in the process and theory of European integration.

Understanding Democratic Politics

Understanding Democratic Politics
Author: Roland Axtmann
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2003-03-06
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780761971832

This textbook is designed for first-time students of politics. It provides an ideal introduction and survey to the key themes and issues central to the study of democratic politics today. The text is structured around three major parts: concepts, institutions and political behaviour; and ideologies and movements. Within each section a series of short and accessible chapters serve to both introduce the key ideas, institutional forms and ideological conflicts central to the study of democratic politics and provide a platform for further, in-depth studies. Each chapter contains a 'bullet-point' summary, a guide to further reading, and a set of questions for tutorial discussion. Designed and written for an undergraduate readership, Understanding Democratic Politics: An Introduction will become an essential guide and companion to all students of politics throughout their university degree.

Constituent Power and the Law

Constituent Power and the Law
Author: Joel Colón-Ríos
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2020-03-26
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0191089087

Constituent power is the power to create new constitutions. Frequently exercised during political revolutions, it has been historically associated with extra-legality and violations of the established legal order. This book examines the relationship between constituent power and the law. It considers the place of constituent power in constitutional history, focusing on the legal and institutional implications that theorists, politicians, and judges have derived from it. Commentators and citizens have relied on the concept of constituent power to defend the idea that electors have the right to instruct representatives, to negate the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty, and to argue that the creation of new constitutions must take place through extra-legislative processes, including primary assemblies open to all citizens. More recently, several Latin American constitutions explicitly incorporate the theory of constituent power and allow citizens, acting through popular initiative, to trigger constitution-making episodes that may result in the replacement of the entire constitutional order. Constitutional courts have also at times employed constituent power to justify their jurisdiction to invalidate constitutional amendments that alter the fundamental structure of the constitution and thus amount to a constitution-making exercise. Some governments have used it to defend the legality of attempts to transform the constitutional order through procedures not contemplated in the constitution's amendment rule, but considered participatory enough to be equivalent to 'the people in action', sometimes sanctioned by courts. Building on these findings, Constituent Power and the Law argues that constituent power, unlike sovereignty, should be understood as ultimately based on a legal mandate to produce a particular type of juridical content. In practice, this makes it possible for a constitution-making body to be understood as legally subject to popularly ratified substantive limits.

Developing a Constitution for Europe

Developing a Constitution for Europe
Author: Erik Oddvar Eriksen
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 365
Release: 2004-08-02
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1134355149

The European Union is currently in the midst of a comprehensive process of reform and the aim of this book is to address the challenge of forging a legitimate Constitution for the EU. These authors clarify the constitutional status of the EU, to take stock of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights and Convention of the Future of Europe as vehicles to foster and create a European constitution.

Constitutional Change in the Contemporary Socialist World

Constitutional Change in the Contemporary Socialist World
Author: Ngoc Son Bui
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2020-07-24
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0192592033

After the collapse of the Soviet bloc, there are only five socialist or communist countries left in the world – China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam – which constitute about one-quarter of the world’s population. Yet, there is little scholarship on their constitutions. These countries have seen varying socioeconomic changes in the decades since 1991, which have led in turn to constitutional changes. This book will investigate, from a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective, how and why the constitutional systems in these five countries have changed in the last three decades. The book then breaks the constitutional changes down into four questions: what are the substantive contents of constitutional change, what are the functions, what are the mechanisms, and what are the driving forces? These questions form a framework to process the changes the five countries have gone through, such as making new constitutions, amending current ones, introducing more rights, allowing citizens to engage in changes, enacting legislation, and defining the constitutional authority of the three state branches and their relationship with the Communist Party. While all five countries have adapted their constitutional systems, the degree, mechanisms, and influential factors are not identical and present considerable variations. This book examines and explores these differences and how they developed. Constitutional Change in the Contemporary Socialist World offers a comprehensive and holistic view of an understudied and overlooked area of constitutional law, essential for anyone studying or working in law, politics, or policy.

Peace, Discontent and Constitutional Law

Peace, Discontent and Constitutional Law
Author: Martin Belov
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2021-05-23
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1000385272

This book offers a multi-discursive analysis of the constitutional foundations for peaceful coexistence, the constitutional background for discontent and the impact of discontent, and the consequences of conflict and revolution on the constitutional order of a democratic society which may lead to its implosion. It explores the capacity of the constitutional order to serve as a reliable framework for peaceful co-existence while allowing for reasonable and legitimate discontent. It outlines the main factors contributing to rising pressure on constitutional order which may produce an implosion of constitutionalism and constitutional democracy as we have come to know it. The collection presents a wide range of views on the ongoing implosion of the liberal-democratic constitutional consensus which predetermined the constitutional axiology, the institutional design, the constitutional mythology and the functioning of the constitutional orders since the last decades of the 20th century. The constitutional perspective is supplemented with perspectives from financial, EU, labour and social security law, administrative law, migration and religious law. Liberal viewpoints encounter radical democratic and critical legal viewpoints. The work thus allows for a plurality of viewpoints, theoretical preferences and thematic discourses offering a pluralist scientific account of the key challenges to peaceful coexistence within the current constitutional framework. The book provides a valuable resource for academics, researchers and policymakers working in the areas of constitutional law and politics.

The Bloomsbury Companion to Metaphysics

The Bloomsbury Companion to Metaphysics
Author: Neil A. Manson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 401
Release: 2014-12-18
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1472585879

Bridging the gap between the familiar figures of the history of philosophy and the technical approaches favoured by contemporary philosophers, The Bloomsbury Companion to Metaphysics introduces the key ideas and debates needed to understand analytic metaphysics. Presenting an effective syllabus for an introductory course in contemporary metaphysics, this companion brings together a team of leading metaphysicians. It begins with a comprehensive introduction to methodological problems and methods, before tackling the perennial metaphysical questions surrounding core topics such as: • Modality • Universals and Abstract Objects • Naturalism and Physicalism • Mind • Free Will • God