|
Showing 1 - 12 of
12 matches in All Departments
Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring The British
constitution is regarded as unique among the constitutions of the
world. What are the main characteristics of Britain's peculiar
constitutional arrangements? How has the British constitution
altered in response to the changing nature of its state - from
England, to Britain, to the United Kingdom? What impact has the
UK's developing relations with the European Union caused? These are
some of the questions that Martin Loughlin addresses in this Very
Short Introduction. As a constitution, it is one that has grown
organically in response to changes in the economic, political, and
social environment, and which is not contained in a single
authoritative text. By considering the nature and authority of the
current British constitution, and placing it in the context of
others, Loughlin considers how the traditional idea of a
constitution came to be retained, what problems have been generated
as a result of adapting a traditional approach in a modern
political world, looking at what the future prospects for the
British constitution are. In this new edition of the Very Short
Introduction, Loughlin includes a disucssion of the impact of
developments over the decade since its first publication, examining
Brexit, the Scottish independence referendum of 2014, and the
settlement in Northern Ireland. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short
Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds
of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books
are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our
expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and
enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly
readable.
A New Statesman Book of the Year A critical analysis of the
transformation of constitutionalism from an increasingly irrelevant
theory of limited government into the most influential philosophy
of governance in the world today. Constitutionalism is universally
commended because it has never been precisely defined. Martin
Loughlin argues that it is not some vague amalgam of liberal
aspirations but a specific and deeply contentious governing
philosophy. An Enlightenment idea that in the nineteenth century
became America's unique contribution to the philosophy of
government, constitutionalism was by the mid-twentieth century
widely regarded as an anachronism. Advocating separated powers and
limited government, it was singularly unsuited to the political
challenges of the times. But constitutionalism has since undergone
a remarkable transformation, giving the Constitution an
unprecedented role in society. Once treated as a practical
instrument to regulate government, the Constitution has been raised
to the status of civil religion, a symbolic representation of
collective unity. Against Constitutionalism explains why this has
happened and its far-reaching consequences. Spearheaded by a
"rights revolution" that subjects governmental action to
comprehensive review through abstract principles, judges acquire
greatly enhanced power as oracles of the regime's "invisible
constitution." Constitutionalism is refashioned as a theory
maintaining that governmental authority rests not on collective
will but on adherence to abstract standards of "public reason." And
across the world the variable practices of constitutional
government have been reshaped by its precepts. Constitutionalism,
Loughlin argues, now propagates the widespread belief that social
progress is advanced not through politics, electoral majorities,
and legislative action, but through innovative judicial
interpretation. The rise of constitutionalism, commonly conflated
with constitutional democracy, actually contributes to its
degradation.
This short and accessible book provides a provocative re-assessment
of the various tangled relationships between law and politics and
in so doing examines legal and political thinking on such critical
areas as justice,the state, constitutionalism and rights. It
introduces lawyers especially to certain important themes in some
of the key texts in political thought and introduces political
scientists to the legal dimensions of a number of central themes of
political studies. Written by one of the leading theorists in
constitutional law, the book should prove to be an indispensable
companion for any student or teacher interested in law and
politics. Contents I. Law and Politics in the Conversation of
Mankind II. Justice III. The State IV. Constitutionalism V.
Conclusions
This short and accessible book provides a provocative re-assessment
of the various tangled relationships between law and politics and
in so doing examines legal and political thinking on such critical
areas as justice,the state, constitutionalism and rights. It
introduces lawyers especially to certain important themes in some
of the key texts in political thought and introduces political
scientists to the legal dimensions of a number of central themes of
political studies. Written by one of the leading theorists in
constitutional law, the book should prove to be an indispensable
companion for any student or teacher interested in law and
politics. Contents I. Law and Politics in the Conversation of
Mankind II. Justice III. The State IV. Constitutionalism V.
Conclusions
The Cambridge Companion to the Rule of Law introduces students,
scholars, and practitioners to the theory and history of the rule
of law, one of the most frequently invoked-and least
understood-ideas of legal and political thought and policy
practice. It offers a comprehensive re-assessment by leading
scholars of one of the world's most cherished traditions. This
high-profile collection provides the first global and
interdisciplinary account of the histories, moralities, pathologies
and trajectories of the rule of law. Unique in conception, and
critical in its approach, it evaluates, breaks down, and subverts
conventional wisdom about the rule of law for the twenty-first
century.
The Cambridge Companion to the Rule of Law introduces students,
scholars, and practitioners to the theory and history of the rule
of law, one of the most frequently invoked-and least
understood-ideas of legal and political thought and policy
practice. It offers a comprehensive re-assessment by leading
scholars of one of the world's most cherished traditions. This
high-profile collection provides the first global and
interdisciplinary account of the histories, moralities, pathologies
and trajectories of the rule of law. Unique in conception, and
critical in its approach, it evaluates, breaks down, and subverts
conventional wisdom about the rule of law for the twenty-first
century.
Foundations of Public Law offers an account of the formation of the
discipline of public law with a view to identifying its essential
character, explaining its particular modes of operation, and
specifying its unique task. Building on the framework first
outlined in The Idea of Public Law (OUP, 2003), the book conceives
public law broadly as a type of law that comes into existence as a
consequence of the secularization, rationalization, and
positivization of the medieval idea of fundamental law. Formed as a
result of the changes that give birth to the modern state, public
law establishes the authority and legitimacy of modern governmental
ordering. Public law today is a universal phenomenon, but its
origins are European. Part I of the book examines the conditions of
its formation, showing how much the concept borrowed from the
refined debates of medieval jurists. Part II then examines the
nature of public law. Drawing on a line of juristic inquiry that
developed from the late sixteenth to the early nineteenth centuries
- extending from Bodin, Althusius, Lipsius, Grotius, Hobbes,
Spinoza, Locke, and Pufendorf to the later works of Montesquieu,
Rousseau, Kant, Fichte, Smith, and Hegel - it presents an account
of public law as a special type of political reason. The remaining
three Parts unpack the core elements of this concept: state,
constitution, and government. By taking this broad approach to the
subject, Loughlin shows how, rather than being viewed as a
limitation on power, law is better conceived as a means by which
public power is generated. And by explaining the way that these
core elements of state, constitution, and government were shaped
respectively by the technological, bourgeois, and disciplinary
revolutions of the sixteenth century through to the nineteenth
century, he reveals a concept of public law of considerable
ambiguity, complexity, and resilience.
This book offers an answer to the question: what is public law? It
suggests that an adequate explanation can only be given once public
law is recognized to be an autonomous discipline, with its own
distinctive methods and tasks. Martin Loughlin defends this claim
by identifying the conceptual foundations of the public law:
governing, politics, representation, sovereignty, constituent
power, and rights. By explicating these basic elements of the
subject, he seeks not only to lay bare its method but also to
present a novel account of the idea of public law.
Foundations of Public Law offers an account of the formation of the
discipline of public law with a view to identifying its essential
character, explaining its particular modes of operation, and
specifying its unique task. Building on the framework first
outlined in The Idea of Public Law (OUP, 2003), the book conceives
public law broadly as a type of law that comes into existence as a
consequence of the secularization, rationalization, and
positivization of the medieval idea of fundamental law. Formed as a
result of the changes that give birth to the modern state, public
law establishes the authority and legitimacy of modern governmental
ordering.
Public law today is a universal phenomenon, but its origins are
European. Part I of the book examines the conditions of its
formation, showing how much the concept borrowed from the refined
debates of medieval jurists. Part II then examines the nature of
public law. Drawing on a line of juristic inquiry that developed
from the late sixteenth to the early nineteenth centuries -
extending from Bodin, Althusius, Lipsius, Grotius, Hobbes, Spinoza,
Locke, and Pufendorf to the later works of Montesquieu, Rousseau,
Kant, Fichte, Smith, and Hegel - it presents an account of public
law as a special type of political reason.
The remaining three Parts unpack the core elements of this concept:
state, constitution, and government. By taking this broad approach
to the subject, Loughlin shows how, rather than being viewed as a
limitation on power, law is better conceived as a means by which
public power is generated. And by explaining the way that these
core elements of state, constitution, and government were shaped
respectively by the technological, bourgeois, and disciplinary
revolutions of the sixteenth century through to the nineteenth
century, he reveals a concept of public law of considerable
ambiguity, complexity, and resilience.
The book sets out to examine some of the key features of what we
describe as the paradox of constitutionalism: whether those who
have the authority to make a constitution - the 'constituent power'
- can do so without effectively surrendering that authority to the
institutional sites of power 'constituted' by the constitutional
form they enact. In particular, is the constituent power exhausted
in the single constitutive act or does it retain a presence, acting
as critical check on the constitutional operating system and/or an
alternative source of authority to be invoked in moments of crisis?
These questions have been debated both in different national
contexts and at the level of constitutional theory, and these
debates are acknowledged and developed in the first two sections of
the book.
Part I includes chapters on how the question of constituent power
has been treated in the constitutional histories of USA, France, UK
and Germany, while Part II examines at the question of constituent
power from the perspective of both liberal and non-liberal theories
of the state and legal order. The essays in Part III consider the
operation of constitutionalism with respect to a series of
contemporary challenges to the state, including those from popular
movements below the level of the state and challenges from the
supranational and international levels, and they analyze how the
puzzles associated with the question of constituent power are
played out in these increasingly important settings.
This volume argues that public law must be treated as a special,
indeed autonomous, subject and that the root cause of many of the
difficulties and controversies that have arisen within both
contemporary jurisprudence and also in the practice of public law
have arisen because this argument has been neglected, and even
suppressed.
The author defends this claim by explicating the idea of public
law, particularly as it has evolved in modern European thought. The
volume provides an account of the juristic significance of
political thought such as the work of Bodin, Hobbes, Locke,
Pufendorf, in addition to a variety of modern scholars. Loughlin
argues that the basic building blocks of the subject are those of
governing, politics, representation, sovereignty, constituent
power, and rights. Through an elaboration of these foundational
concepts, he explores the nature and method of public law, and
offers a novel account of the idea of public law.
The study of public law in the United Kingdom has been hampered for
many years by an inadequate appreciation among scholars and
students of the importance of understanding the different political
theories which underpin different models of public law. This short
and highly readable work offers students a straightforward
introduction to the relationship between public law and political
theory and helps them to comprehend the rich literature on both
subjects.
|
You may like...
Morgan
Kate Mara, Jennifer Jason Leigh, …
Blu-ray disc
(1)
R70
Discovery Miles 700
|