Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T23:01:15.904Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

24 - What Counts as Constitutional Identity?

from Part IV - Emerging Trends

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2024

Ran Hirschl
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Yaniv Roznai
Affiliation:
Reichman University, Israel
Get access

Summary

This chapter reflects on whether and how large-N empirical studies can help our understanding of constitutional identity. It argues that although we cannot simply count and measure many aspects of constitutional identity, empirical analysis can help us better understand the concept and offers some practical suggestions for how it can do so. Next, it presents original data from nationally representative surveys conducted in five countries (the United States, Japan, China, South Korea, and Taiwan) and analyzes respondents’ responses to whether they feel represented by the constitution. The main finding from this exercise is that respondents who are older, male, higher-educated and have high incomes feel more represented than younger, female, lower-educated, and low-income respondents. In essence, groups that are relatively well off in society believe that their values and interests are better represented by the constitution than those who are less well off. While it does not directly tell us what the constitution’s identity is, these data do tell us something about the nature of the relationship between the constitution and those governed by it. Notably, they are consistent with accounts that suggest that constitutions reflect elite interests.

Type
Chapter
Information
Deciphering the Genome of Constitutionalism
The Foundations and Future of Constitutional Identity
, pp. 312 - 329
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References

Ackerman, Bruce. 1991. We the People, Volume I: Foundations. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Beard, Charles A. 1913. An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States. Stuttgart: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Breslin, Beau. 2009. From Words to Worlds: Exploring Constitutional Functionality. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chilton, Adam and Versteeg, Mila. 2020. How Constitutional Rights Matter. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coppedge, Michael et al. 2011. “Conceptualizing and Measuring Democracy: A New Approach.” Perspectives on Politics 9 (2): 247 (2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cornell Statistical Consulting Unit. 2008. “StatNews #73: Overlapping Confidence Intervals and Statistical Significance.” Last updated September 2020. https://cscu.cornell.edu/wp-content/uploads/73_ci.pdf.Google Scholar
Crabtree, Charles and Versteeg, Mila. n.d. Constitutional Legitimacy.Google Scholar
Elkins, Zachary et al. 2009. The Endurance of National Constitutions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fletcher, George P. 1994. “Constitutional Identity.” In Constitutionalism, Identity, Difference, and Legitimacy, edited by Rosenfeld, Michel, 223232. Durham: Duke University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frankenberg, Gunter. 2018. Comparative Constitutional Studies: Between Magic and Deceit. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ginsburg, Tom and Versteeg, Mila. 2017. “Measuring the Rule of Law: A Comparison of Indicators.” Law & Society Inquiry 42 (1): 100137.Google Scholar
Hein, Michael. 2018. “The Constitutional Entrenchment Clauses Dataset.” University of Göttingen. http://data.michaelhein.de.Google Scholar
Hirschl, Ran. 2004. Towards Juristocracy. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald. 2008. “Foreword.” In Values Change the World. World Values Survey.Google Scholar
Jacobsohn, Gary J. 2010. Constitutional Identity. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Jacobsohn, Gary J. 2011. “The Formation of Constitutional Identities.” In Comparative Constitutional Law, edited by Ginsburg, Tom and Dixon, Rosalind, 129142. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.Google Scholar
King, Jeff. 2013. “Constitutions as Mission-Statement.” In The Social and Political Foundations of Constitutions, edited by Galligan, Denis and Versteeg, Mila, 73102. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krishnaswamy, Sudhir. 2011. Democracy and Constitutionalism in India: A Study of the Basic Structure Doctrine. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Law, David S. 2013. “The Myth of the Imposed Constitution.” In The Social and Political Foundations of Constitutions, edited by Galligan, Denis and Versteeg, Mila, 239264. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Law, David S. 2016. “Constitutional Archetypes.” Texas Law Review 95 (2): 153243.Google Scholar
Law, David S. and Versteeg, Mila. 2011. “The Evolution and Ideology of Global Constitutionalism.” California Law Review 99 (5): 11631257.Google Scholar
Levinson, Sanford. 1979. “‘The Constitution’ in American Civil Religion.” Supreme Court Review 1979: 123151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merry, Sally Engle. 2011. “Measuring the World: Indicators, Human Rights, and Global Governance: With CA Comment by John M. Conley.” Current Anthropology 52: 8395.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parenti, Michael. 2011. Democracy for the Few. New York: St. Martin’s Press.Google Scholar
Rosenfeld, Michel. 2007. “Constitutional Identity.” In The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Constitutional Law, edited by Rosenfeld, Michel and Sajó, András, 756776. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Rosenfeld, Michel. 2009. The Identity of the Constitutional Subject: Selfhood, Citizenship, Culture, and Community. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roznai, Yaniv. 2017. Unconstitutional Constitutional Amendments: The Limits of Amendment Powers. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sajó, András. 2019. “On Constitutional Identity and Loyalties of the Constitutional Judge.” Cardozo Law Review 40: 32533276.Google Scholar
Shōichi, Koseki. 1997. The Birth of Japan’s Postwar Constitution, edited by Ray, A. Moore. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Van Der Schyff, Gerhard. 2020. “Member States of the European Union, Constitutions, and Identity: A Comparative Perspective.” In Constitutional Identity in a Europe of Multilevel Constitutionalism, edited by Calliess, Christian and Van Der Schyff, Gerhard, 305347. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Versteeg, Mila. 2014. “Unpopular Constitutionalism.” Indiana Law Journal 89: 11331190.Google Scholar
Voermans, Wim, Stremler, Maarten and Cliteur, Paul. 2017. Constitutional Preambles: A Comparative Analysis. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, Qianfan. 2012. The Constitution of China: A Contextual Analysis. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Legislation

Constitution of Ireland 1937.Google Scholar
Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan 2008.Google Scholar
Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador 2008.Google Scholar
Political Constitution of the State of Bolivia 2009.Google Scholar
Constitution of the Dominican Republic 2015.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×