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Constitutional Law

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Selected Works

Constitutions

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Full-Text Articles in Law

The Age Of Constitutions In The Americas, M. C. Mirow Dec 2013

The Age Of Constitutions In The Americas, M. C. Mirow

M. C. Mirow

This essay discusses essential elements of the Age of Constitutions in the Americas. These elements are the United States Constitution and state constitutions, English constitutional practices, the French Revolution and the republic constitutions, the Cortes of Cadiz and the Spanish Constitution of 1812, and Haitian independence and the constitutions of the early republic.

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Stealth Constitutional Change And The Geography Of Law, Jill M. Fraley Sep 2013

Stealth Constitutional Change And The Geography Of Law, Jill M. Fraley

Jill M. Fraley

Bruce Ackerman's recent book, The Decline and Fall of the American Republic, is a sudden shift from his previous scholarship on constitutional moments and the ability of social movements to generate minor revolutions. By acknowledging how constitutional change did not fit into his model of deliberate, deeply debated movements, Ackerman has shifted the scholarly lens to unintentional and unanticipated structural variations. Ackerman focuses his book on the political processes and events that have fostered potentially illegitimate constitutional remodeling. He acknowledges that certain features of legal scholarship have contributed to a lack of awareness of slow, structural drift, but he does …

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Ministerial Responsibility And Chief Executive Accountability: The Implications Of The Better Public Services Reform Programme, Matthew S. R. Palmer Qc Apr 2013

Ministerial Responsibility And Chief Executive Accountability: The Implications Of The Better Public Services Reform Programme, Matthew S. R. Palmer Qc

The Hon Justice Matthew Palmer

This paper examines the current state of the constitutional convention of ministerial responsibility and its public service corollaries in New Zealand. It assesses the implications for them of the latest reform initiative in the New Zealand public service: Better Public Services. It concludes that the Better Public Services initiative does not disturb the constitutional underpinnings of the public service. But neither does it address the problem of the paucity of free and frank advice and wider problems of the quality of policy advice. Addressing those problems requires commitment by Ministers and leadership in the public service.

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"Open The Doors And Where Are The People?: Constitutional Dialogue In The Shadow Of The People", Matthew S. R. Palmer Dec 2010

"Open The Doors And Where Are The People?: Constitutional Dialogue In The Shadow Of The People", Matthew S. R. Palmer

The Hon Justice Matthew Palmer

The chapter applies an approach of ‘constitutional realism’ in addressing the question ‘where are the people?’ in New Zealand’s constitution. It outlines the reality of New Zealand’s constitution in terms of the dynamics of its constitutional dialogue and its underlying norms and culture. With that context, it examines the position of ‘the people’ in New Zealand’s constitution: how people in New Zealand can currently engage with and participate in governance. It concludes by noting that the most important manifestation of the people in New Zealand is through democratic representation in Parliament. It emphasises the under-appreciated importance of the New Zealand …

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The Treaty Of Waitangi In New Zealand's Law And Constitution, Reviewed By Sir Edmund Thomas, Matthew S. R. Palmer Jul 2009

The Treaty Of Waitangi In New Zealand's Law And Constitution, Reviewed By Sir Edmund Thomas, Matthew S. R. Palmer

The Hon Justice Matthew Palmer

Sir Edmund Thomas, former judge of the New Zealand Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, reviews Matthew Palmer's book on the Treaty of Waitangi in the August 2009 issue of the New Zealand Law Journal

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Does The Constitutional Process Matter?, Zachary Elkins Dec 2008

Does The Constitutional Process Matter?, Zachary Elkins

Zachary Elkins

Constitution-making is a ubiquitous but poorly understood phenomenon. There is much speculation but relatively little evidence about the impact of different design processes on constitutional outcomes. Much of the debate reduces to the question of who is involved in the process and when. We consider two central issues in this regard. The first is the problem of institutional self-dealing, or whether governmental organs that have something to gain from the constitutional outcome should be involved in the process. The second has to do with the merits of public involvement in the process. Both of these concerns have clear normative implications …

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