From 'Civil Society' to 'Europe' (International Studies in Sociology and Social Anthropology)

In East Central Europe, constitutionalism comprises an effort by postcommunist societies to consolidate around certain values, principles, and rules that would facilitate the formation of a new political architecture as well as a new political identity for their countries. Based primarily on the experience of Poland - in comparison with other East Central European countries - this book debates the specific features of postcommunist constitutionalism. The result is a theory of reflexive constitutionalism (informed by the sociological theory of reflexive modernization) which assesses critically the intellectual resources as well as the consolidating potential of the classic foundations of liberal democracy within the reality of postcommunist transformation. From “Civil Society” to “Europe”......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Dedication......Page 8 Contents......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 14 Introduction: The Objectives of this Book......Page 16 Constitution and constitutionalism: a sociological approach......Page 20 Postcommunist dilemmas and sources of popular frustration......Page 25 Theoretical background of this book......Page 30 Empirical context......Page 33 Prologue: Between “Civil Society” and “Europe”: Round Tables in East Central Europe as Political and Legal Events......Page 38 Round tables as political events......Page 42 Round tables and the legality of the transformations......Page 52 Constitutional outcomes of round tables......Page 58 Consequences of the round tables in subsequent change......Page 63 I A Constitution as a Theory of Society......Page 66 Postcommunism critiqued......Page 68 Constitutional instrumentalism......Page 72 The “Empty Space” proposition as justification of constitutional instrumentalism......Page 76 Non-fictive, context-bound reflexive constitutionalism......Page 80 The constitution as a theory of society within society......Page 87 Constitutional instrumentalism versus the reflexive approach to the constitution......Page 92 II Stalinist Constitutionalism......Page 96 Typical features of Stalinist constitutionalism......Page 97 Theoretical foundations of the Stalinist political system......Page 101 Axiology of Stalinist constitutionalism......Page 106 System legitimization: the unarticulated social contract and negative constitutional consensus......Page 109 Stalinist constitutionalism and the need for a new constitutional semantics......Page 113 III In Search of a New Semantics: Discursive Resources of Postcommunist Constitutionalism......Page 116 Recent constitutional history: the context for democratic constitutionalism......Page 118 Recent constitutional history in its narrow sense......Page 123 The return of civil society, reintroduction of morality, and renaissance of history in the public sphere after the Gulag experience......Page 129 Interpretations of the rule of law......Page 134 The Eastern European syndrome: a brief outline of difficult legacies, old and new......Page 138 The semantic endowment of the new constitutions......Page 143 IV Settling Accounts with the Past and the Dilemmas of the Law-Governed State......Page 148 The constitutive potential of the difficult past: the right to truth, to remembrance, and to restitution of property rights as part of identity restoration......Page 151 Two legacies of stalinist totalitarianism......Page 157 Structural and mental legacies of the semantics used to legitimize state crimes......Page 162 Legacies of mass scale expropriations......Page 168 Knowledge as power: the paradoxes of democracy and model approaches......Page 175 Dilemmas of the law-governed state principle......Page 185 “Alienating justice” or a positive constitutional consensus?......Page 193 V Dividing the Cake: The Constitutionalization of Economic Order......Page 200 Privatization in the eyes of economists and sociologists......Page 205 Institutional optimism and sociological realism......Page 211 Anarchy, semi-legalized anarchy, and blurring the line between state-owned and private property......Page 218 The constitution versus mundane economic processes after the collapse of communism in East Central Europe......Page 227 Conclusions: written constitutions and emerging realities......Page 232 Summing Up: Thirteen Theses on Postcommunist Constitutionalism......Page 236 Appendix One: Election Particpation in Eastern Europe......Page 250 Appendix Two: Satisfaction with Democracy in Eastern Europe......Page 251 Appendix Three: Satisfaction with the Actually Realized Model of Democracy in Particular Countries......Page 252 Appendix Four: Comparison of Evaluations of Democracy and Market Economy in Action in Particular Countries......Page 253 Bibliography......Page 254 Index......Page 266 Drawing on the sociological theory of reflexive modernization and the doctrine of liberal democracy, this book debates the formation of postcommunist constitutionalism. Examination of Poland, in comparison with other postcommunist countries, leads to a new theory of reflexive constitutionalism. By Grażyna Skapska. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.