Democracy, the courts, and the liberal state : a comparative analysis of American and German constitutionalism

Author(s)

    • Miles, David

Bibliographic Information

Democracy, the courts, and the liberal state : a comparative analysis of American and German constitutionalism

David Miles

(Routledge innovations in political theory)

Routledge, 2021

  • : hbk

Available at  / 2 libraries

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Note

Includes bibliographical references and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Reformulating a problem of both constitutionalism and liberalism discussed in the works of Ernst-Wolfgang Boeckenfoerde, Hannah Arendt, and Alexis de Tocqueville, the book examines one generally overlooked manifestation of constitutionalism: the role of the courts in shaping democratic politics and the inter-relationship between citizens and state. Drawing on constitutional history, law, and political theory, David Miles argues that constitutionalism cannot be seen merely as an institutional mechanism to limit government, as it also has a crucial civic dimension upon which the liberal state depends. Utilising the works of Boeckenfoerde, Arendt, and Tocqueville, constitutionalism is conceived in the book as part of a broader system of communal norms which sustains representative democracy and liberalism. Through an analysis of judicial interventions in the electoral processes of the United States and Germany, Miles explores the role of civil society actors in transforming constitutionalism through legal challenges to oligarchical or exclusionary practices. He assesses how, in adjudicating these cases, the US Supreme Court and the German Constitutional Court have mediated the tension between threats to stability and the imperative of democratic renewal. Democracy, the Courts, and the Liberal State will be of interest to scholars, students, and practitioners interested in comparative politics, political theory, and constitutional law and history.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1. Taking Democracy Seriously 2. Mediating the Values of the Civic Space 3. People of Different Views 4. A Changing Concept of Equality 5. The Democracy Training Programme 6. Karlsruhe and the People Conclusion

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