Democracy and legal change / Melissa Schwartzberg. electronic resource

By:

Schwartzberg, Melissa, 1975-

Material type: Text

TextSeries: Cambridge studies in the theory of democracyPublication details: Cambridge [England] ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2007.Description: xii, 228 p. ; 23 cmISBN:

9780521866521 (hardback)
0521866529 (hardback)

Subject(s):

DDC classification:

340/.3 22

LOC classification:

K552 .S29 2007

Online resources:

Table of contents only Click here to download

Contents:

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.

Summary: 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

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Holdings
Item type	Current library	Collection	Call number	URL	Status	Date due	Barcode	Item holds
e-book	KNCHR Library SharePoint	Non-Fiction	K552 .S29 2007 (Browse shelf(Opens below))	Link to resource	Available

Total holds: 0

Includes bibliographical references (p. 211-223) and index.

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

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