The Twilight of Constitutionalism? Oxford Constitutional Theory Series

The concepts and values that underpin traditional constitutionalism are increasingly being challenged by political realities that place substantial power beyond the state. Among the few certainties of a global economy is the growing incongruity between the political (the world of things that need to be ordered collectively in order to sustain society) and the state (the major institution of authoritative political decision-making during modern times). The consequences, and possible remedies, of this double disjunction of politics and state and of state and constitution form the centre of an open debate about 'constitutionalism beyond the state'. The essays gathered in this collection explore the range of issues raised by this debate. The effects of recent changes on two of the main building blocks of constitutionalism - statehood and democracy - are examined in Parts I and II. Since the movement of overcoming statehood has, arguably, been advanced furthest in the European context, the question of the future of constitutionalist ideas in the framework of the EU provides the key theme of Part III. The remaining parts consider possible transformations or substitutes. The engagement of constitutions with international law offers one line of transmutation of constitutionalism (Part IV) and the diffusion of constitutionalism into separate social spheres provides an alternative way of pursuing constitutionalism in a new key (Part VI). Finally, the ability of the theory of global administrative law (examined in Part V) to offer an alternative account of the potential of jurisdictional control of global governing processes is examined. Through these explorations, the book offers cross-disciplinary insights into the impact of recent political and economic changes on modern constitutionalism and an assessment of the prospects for constitutionalism in a transnational environment.

Introduction. Part I: Constitutionalism and the Erosion of Statehood. 1. The Achievement of Constitutionalism and its Prospects in a Changed World. 2. Disconnecting Constitutions from Statehood: Is Global Constitutionalism a promising concept?. 3. Constitutions, Constitutionalism, Constitutionalization. Part II: The Question of Europe. 4. Legitimacy in the Multilevel European Polity. 5. Does the European Polity need a Parliament?. 6. Governance with or without the State?. Part III: Constitutionalism without Democracy?. 7. There Will Be Blood: Democracy under Pressure of Global Capitalism, Global Power and Global Religion. 8. More law, less democracy? Democracy and Transnational Constitutionalism. 9. Constitutional membership and belonging to the democratic nation-state: On the relationship between constitutionalism and democracy.. Part IV: Constitutional Law and Public International Law. 10. On the Constitutionalization of Public International Law. 11. What is Cosmopolitan Constitutionalism and how does it relate to National Constitutionalism?. 12. In Defence of National Constitutions. Part V: Global Administrative Law: A Viable Substitute?. 13. The Promise of Global Administrative Law. 14. Administration without Sovereignty. Part VI: The Emergence of Societal Constitutionalism. 15. Fragmented Foundations: Societal Constitutionalism beyond the Nation State. 16. Beyond the Holistic Constitution?. 17. The Morphogenesis of Constitutionalism.

Martin Loughlin is Professor of Public Law at the London School of Economics. He specialises in constitutional theory and his books in the field include The Paradox of Constitutionalism (edited with Neil Walker, 2007), Foundations of Public Law (2010), The Idea of Public Law (2003), and Public Law and Political Theory (1992). Petra Dobner is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Halle, Germany.

...the quality of the contributions is extremely high. It shows that most of the contributors have worked on the topic of constitutionalism for many years. Still the volume goes further than merely presenting summaries of the existing positions at the same time as new aspects and dimensions are added. As such the volume provides a very important step in the attempt to move beyond the constitutional twilight