Political Constitutionalism : A Republican Defence of the Constitutionality of Democracy

Judicial review by constitutional courts is often presented as a necessary supplement to democracy. This book questions its effectiveness and legitimacy. Drawing on the republican tradition, Richard Bellamy argues that the democratic mechanisms of open elections between competing parties and decision-making by majority rule offer superior and sufficient methods for upholding rights and the rule of law. The absence of popular accountability renders judicial review a form of arbitrary rule which lacks the incentive structure democracy provides to ensure rulers treat the ruled with equal concern and respect. Rights based judicial review undermines the constitutionality of democracy. Its counter-majoritarian bias promotes privileged against unprivileged minorities, while its legalism and focus on individual cases distort public debate. Rather than constraining democracy with written constitutions and greater judicial oversight, attention should be paid to improving democratic processes through such measures as reformed electoral systems and enhanced parliamentary scrutiny. Half-title......Page 3 Title......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Dedication......Page 7 Contents......Page 9 Preface and Acknowledgements......Page 10 Introduction: Legal and Political Constitutionalism......Page 13 PART I Legal constitutionalism......Page 25 1 Constitutional rights and the limits of judicial review......Page 27 I Constitutional rights and ‘the circumstances of justice’......Page 29 II Constitutional rights and ‘the circumstances of politics’......Page 32 III The tyranny of the minority: why judicial review fails to take rights seriously......Page 38 IV The culture of rights......Page 60 Conclusion......Page 63 2 The rule of law and the rule of persons......Page 64 The rule of law and the circumstances of politics......Page 66 Arbitrary rule and rule by law......Page 69 II Legal rule......Page 78 Hayek: going by the rulebook......Page 79 Dworkin: judging on principle......Page 86 III Political rule......Page 91 The politics of the rule of law......Page 92 Democratising the judiciary......Page 95 Conclusion......Page 100 3 Constitutionalism and democracy......Page 102 I Constitutional democracy: substantive views......Page 104 Dworkin and the substantive rights of citizenship......Page 105 Rawls and the citizens’ contract......Page 112 Policing the democratic process: J. H. Ely......Page 119 Nemo iudex in sua causa: breaking themonopoly of democracy’s winners over the means of their success......Page 130 The substance of procedures: the Burt–Ginsburg view......Page 132 Substantive procedures: Habermas and the preconditions of democratic discourse......Page 138 Constitutional politics: Bruce Ackerman’s We the People......Page 141 Popular constitutionalism......Page 148 Conclusion......Page 153 PART II Political constitutionalism......Page 155 4 The norms of political constitutionalism: non-domination and political equality......Page 157 I Depoliticising the constitution as a source of domination......Page 159 Republicanism, liberalism and constitutionalism......Page 166 Freedom as non-interference......Page 168 Freedom as non-domination......Page 171 Equal concern and respect......Page 174 Republicanism and substantive legal constitutionalism......Page 175 Republicanism and procedural legal constitutionalism......Page 183 Conclusion......Page 186 5 The forms of political constitutionalism: public reason and the balance of power......Page 188 I The political forms of republicanism and the ‘circumstances of politics’......Page 189 Substantive accounts of public reasoning......Page 191 Objectivity and public reasoning......Page 192 Rawls and the public reason of the constitution......Page 196 Democratic deliberation through public reason......Page 200 Procedural accounts of public reasoning......Page 203 III The balance of power......Page 207 Conclusion......Page 220 6 Bringing together norms and forms: the democratic constitution......Page 221 I Non-domination and political equality......Page 222 The equal consideration of interests and the circumstances of politics......Page 224 Equal outcomes: democracy and welfarist views of non-arbitrary rule......Page 226 Equal process: democratic participation as non-arbitrariness......Page 230 II Public reason......Page 233 Equal votes......Page 235 Majority rule......Page 237 III The balance of power......Page 242 IV The constitutionality of legislative politics......Page 251 Controlling the executive: courts versus legislatures......Page 255 Hard cases? States of emergency and the politically powerless......Page 261 Conclusion......Page 271 Conclusion......Page 272 Index......Page 276 Judicial review by constitutional courts is often presented as a necessary supplement to democracy. This book questions its effectiveness and legitimacy. Drawing on the republican tradition, Richard Bellamy argues that the democratic mechanisms of open elections between competing parties and decision-making by majority rule offer superior and sufficient methods for upholding rights and the rule of law. The absence of popular accountability renders judicial review a form of arbitrary rule which lacks the incentive structure democracy provides to ensure rulers treat the ruled with equal concern and respect. Rights based judicial review undermines the constitutionality of democracy. Its counter-majoritarian bias promotes privileged against unprivileged minorities, while its legalism and focus on individual cases distort public debate. Rather than constraining democracy with written constitutions and greater judicial oversight, attention should be paid to improving democratic processes through such measures as reformed electoral systems and enhanced parliamentary scrutiny. y Draws on both legal and political theory y Features material from both the US and the UK y Strong argument against the growing conventional wisdom that written constitutions and judicial review promotes individual rights This book challenges the view that democracy and human rights are best protected by the legal process rather than the electoral process and is thus an important contribution to the debate over democracy and constitutionalism

Questions the effectiveness and legitimacy of rights-based judicial review by constitutional courts.