Democracy and legal change /
Schwartzberg, Melissa, 1975-
Democracy and legal change / electronic resource Melissa Schwartzberg. - Cambridge [England] ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2007. - xii, 228 p. ; 23 cm. - Cambridge studies in the theory of democracy . - Cambridge studies in the theory of democracy. .
Includes bibliographical references (p. 211-223) and index.
Introduction : explaining legal change and entrenchment -- Innovation and democracy : legal change in ancient Athens -- Legislation and law reform in seventeenth-century England -- Fallibility and foundations in the U.S. Constitution -- Protecting democracy and dignity in Postwar Germany -- Conclusion : defending democracy against entrenchment.
Since ancient Athens, democrats have taken pride in their power and inclination to change their laws, yet they have also sought to counter this capacity by creating immutable laws. In Democracy and Legal Change, Melissa Schwartzberg argues that modifying law is a fundamental and attractive democratic activity. Against those who would defend the use of “entrenchment clauses” to protect key constitutional provisions from revision, Schwartzberg seeks to demonstrate historically the strategic and even unjust purposes unamendable laws have typically served, and to highlight the regrettable consequences that entrenchment may have for democracies today. Drawing on historical evidence, classical political thought, and contemporary constitutional and democratic theory, Democracy and Legal Change reexamines the relationship between democracy and the rule of law from a new, and often surprising, set of vantage points
9780521866521 (hardback) 0521866529 (hardback)
2006031900
Law reform.
Law reform--History.
Democracy.
K552 / .S29 2007
340/.3
Democracy and legal change / electronic resource Melissa Schwartzberg. - Cambridge [England] ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2007. - xii, 228 p. ; 23 cm. - Cambridge studies in the theory of democracy . - Cambridge studies in the theory of democracy. .
Includes bibliographical references (p. 211-223) and index.
Introduction : explaining legal change and entrenchment -- Innovation and democracy : legal change in ancient Athens -- Legislation and law reform in seventeenth-century England -- Fallibility and foundations in the U.S. Constitution -- Protecting democracy and dignity in Postwar Germany -- Conclusion : defending democracy against entrenchment.
Since ancient Athens, democrats have taken pride in their power and inclination to change their laws, yet they have also sought to counter this capacity by creating immutable laws. In Democracy and Legal Change, Melissa Schwartzberg argues that modifying law is a fundamental and attractive democratic activity. Against those who would defend the use of “entrenchment clauses” to protect key constitutional provisions from revision, Schwartzberg seeks to demonstrate historically the strategic and even unjust purposes unamendable laws have typically served, and to highlight the regrettable consequences that entrenchment may have for democracies today. Drawing on historical evidence, classical political thought, and contemporary constitutional and democratic theory, Democracy and Legal Change reexamines the relationship between democracy and the rule of law from a new, and often surprising, set of vantage points
9780521866521 (hardback) 0521866529 (hardback)
2006031900
Law reform.
Law reform--History.
Democracy.
K552 / .S29 2007
340/.3