From Parchment to Practice explores the set of problems that arise when a new constitution has been adopted. All new constitutions must manage a balance or tension between two forces: aspirations for social and political transformation on the one hand and demands for preservation of old interests and institutions on the other. The period following the initial adoption of a new constitution, is the conceptual, temporal, and institutional bridge between the past and future. It is the moment when the transformative and the preservative forces in constitutional design can come into the sharpest conflict. Through a series of case studies, this volume analyzes the variable nature of these type of conflicts - and the diverse means through which they are mediated, whether successfully or not.
‘Highly recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals.’
E. C. Sands Source: Choice
‘The specific focus of this collection of essays is the first period following the adoption of a new constitution. … What follows [the] introductory chapter is an admirably coherent series of country studies … If one were to imagine a spectrum with the goals of transformation and preservation on opposite ends, the countries included in this volume would easily fill all the spaces along the continuum. … This reviewer has long embraced the view that disharmony is endemic to the constitutional condition, that it is the critical variable in understanding the development of any constitutional order. Among its many praiseworthy virtues, [this volume] will be lauded by anyone who shares this perspective.’
Gary Jacobsohn Source: Law and Politics Book Review
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