Eternity Clauses in Democratic Constitutionalism
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Eternity Clauses in Democratic Constitutionalism by Silvia Suteu
This book analyses unamendability in democratic constitutionalism and engages critically and systematically with its perils, offering a much-needed corrective to existing understandings of this phenomenon. Whether formalized in the constitutional text or developed as part of judicial doctrines of implicit unamendability, eternity clauses raise fundamental questions about the core democratic commitments underpinning any given constitution. The book takes seriously the democratic challenge eternity clauses pose and argues that this goes beyond the old tension between constitutionalism and democracy. Instead, eternity clauses reveal themselves to be a far more ambivalent constitutional mechanism, one with greater and more insidious potential for abuse than has been recognized. The 'dark side' of unamendability includes its propensity to insulate majoritarian, exclusionary, and internally incoherent values, as well as its sometimes purely pragmatic role in elite bargaining. The book adopts a contextual approach and brings to the fore a variety of case studies from non-traditional jurisdictions. These insights from the periphery illuminate the prospects of unamendability fulfilling its intended aims - protecting constitutional democracy foremost among them. With its promise most appealing in transitional, post-conflict, and fragile democracies, unamendability reveals itself, counterintuitively, to be both less potent and potentially more dangerous in precisely these contexts. The book also places the rise of eternity clauses in the context of other significant trends in recent constitutional practice: the transnational embeddedness of constitution-making and of constitutional adjudication; the rise of popular participation in constitutional reform processes; and the ongoing crisis of democratic backsliding in liberal democracies.
Dr Silvia Suteu is Lecturer in Public Law at University College London. Her research interests are broadly in comparative constitutional law and constitutional theory. She studies the theory and practice of deliberative constitutional change, constitutional entrenchment and democratic theory, transitional constitutionalism, and gender-sensitive constitution-making. She has been invited to present her work at institutions such as the United Nations Development Program, the European Parliament, the European Court of Human Rights, and OSCE, and has provided legal expertise on constitution building to organizations including Democracy Reporting International, the Euromed Feminist Initiative, International IDEA, and UN Women.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780198858867 |
| ISBN 10 | 0198858868 |
| Title | Eternity Clauses in Democratic Constitutionalism |
| Author | Silvia Suteu |
| Series | Oxford Comparative Constitutionalism |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Year published | 2021-05-20 |
| Number of pages | 336 |
| Prizes | Winner of Winner, 2023 ICON-S Book Prize. |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |