Constitutional Culture and Democratic Rule

Front Cover
John A. Ferejohn, Jack N. Rakove, Jonathan Riley
Cambridge University Press, Oct 8, 2001 - History - 414 pages
This volume investigates the nature of constitutional democratic government in the United States and elsewhere. The editors introduce a basic conceptual framework which the contributors clarify and develop in eleven essays organized into three separate sections. The first section deals with constitutional founding and the founders' use of cultural symbols and traditions to facilitate acceptance of a new regime. The second discusses alternative constitutional structures and their effects on political outcomes. The third focuses on processes of constitutional change and on why founders might choose to make formal amendments relatively difficult or easy to achieve. The book is distinctive because it provides comprehensive tools for analyzing and comparing different forms of constitutional democracy. These tools are discussed in ways that will be of interest to students and readers in political science, law, history and political philosophy.

From inside the book

Contents

Constitutional Problematics circa 1787
41
Inventing Constitutional Traditions The Poverty of Fatalism
71
The Birth Logic of a Democratic Constitution
110
CONSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE AND DESIGN
145
Constitutional Democracy as a TwoStage Game
147
Imagining Another Madisonian Republic
170
One and Three Separation of Powers and the Independence of the Judiciary in the Italian Constitution
205
A Political Theory of Federalism
223
CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE AND STABILITY
269
Designing an Amendment Process
271
Constitutional Theory Transformed
288
Constitutional Economic Transition
328
Institutionalizing Constitutional Interpretation
361
Name Index
393
Subject Index
399
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases