Towards Juristocracy
eBook - PDF

Towards Juristocracy

The Origins and Consequences of the New Constitutionalism

  1. English
  2. PDF
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Towards Juristocracy

The Origins and Consequences of the New Constitutionalism

About this book

In countries and supranational entities around the globe, constitutional reform has transferred an unprecedented amount of power from representative institutions to judiciaries. The constitutionalization of rights and the establishment of judicial review are widely believed to have benevolent and progressive origins, and significant redistributive, power-diffusing consequences. Ran Hirschl challenges this conventional wisdom.

Drawing upon a comprehensive comparative inquiry into the political origins and legal consequences of the recent constitutional revolutions in Canada, Israel, New Zealand, and South Africa, Hirschl shows that the trend toward constitutionalization is hardly driven by politicians' genuine commitment to democracy, social justice, or universal rights. Rather, it is best understood as the product of a strategic interplay among hegemonic yet threatened political elites, influential economic stakeholders, and judicial leaders. This self-interested coalition of legal innovators determines the timing, extent, and nature of constitutional reforms.

Hirschl demonstrates that whereas judicial empowerment through constitutionalization has a limited impact on advancing progressive notions of distributive justice, it has a transformative effect on political discourse. The global trend toward juristocracy, Hirschl argues, is part of a broader process whereby political and economic elites, while they profess support for democracy and sustained development, attempt to insulate policymaking from the vicissitudes of democratic politics.

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Yes, you can access Towards Juristocracy by Ran Hirschl in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Law & Law Theory & Practice. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title page
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  5. Introduction
  6. Chapter 1. Four Constitutional Revolutions
  7. Chapter 2. The Political Origins of Constitutionalization
  8. Chapter 3. Hegemonic Preservation in Action
  9. Chapter 4. Constitutionalization and Judicial Interpretation of Rights
  10. Chapter 5. Rights and Realities
  11. Chapter 6. Constitutionalization and the Judicialization of Mega-Politics
  12. Conclusion: The Road to Juristocracy and theLimits of Constitutionalization
  13. Notes
  14. Legal Decisions Cited
  15. Acknowledgments
  16. Index