Creating a Constitution - Law, Democracy, and Growth in Ancient Athens (Hardcover)

A comprehensive account of how the Athenian constitution was created-with lessons for contemporary constitution-building We live in an era of constitution-making. More than half of the world's constitutions have been drafted in the past half-century. Yet, one question still eludes theorists and practitioners alike: how do stable, growth-enhancing constitutional structures emerge and endure? In Creating a Constitution, Federica Carugati argues that ancient Athens offers a unique laboratory for exploring this question. Because the city-state was reasonably well-documented, smaller than most modern nations, and simpler in its institutional makeup, the case of Athens reveals key factors of successful constitution-making that are hard to flesh out in more complex settings. Carugati demonstrates that the institutional changes Athens undertook in the late fifth century BCE, after a period of war and internal strife, amounted to a de facto constitution. The constitution restored stability and allowed the democracy to flourish anew. The analysis of Athens's case reveals the importance of three factors for creating a successful constitution: first, a consensus on a set of shared values capable of commanding long-term support; second, a self-enforcing institutional structure that reflects those values; and, third, regulatory mechanisms for policymaking that enable tradeoffs of inclusion to foster growth without jeopardizing stability. Uniquely combining institutional analysis, political economy, and history, Creating a Constitution is a compelling account of how political and economic goals that we normally associate with Western developed countries were once achieved through different institutional arrangements.

General

Imprint:	Princeton University Press
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	August 2019
First published:	2019
Authors:	Federica Carugati
Dimensions:	235 x 156 x 22mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover - Trade binding
Pages:	248
ISBN-13:	978-0-691-19563-6
Categories:	Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political science & theory Books > Business & Economics > Economics > Political economy Books > Humanities > History > World history > BCE to 500 CE Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political structure & processes > Constitution, government & the state Books > Law > Laws of other jurisdictions & general law > Constitutional & administrative law > General Books > History > World history > BCE to 500 CE
LSN:	0-691-19563-3
Barcode:	9780691195636

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