Comparative Constitutionalism and Good Governance in the Commonwealth Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of cases
- List of constitutions
- List of statutes
- List of other instruments
- Map
- Introduction
- 1 The democratic state in Africa: setting the scene
- 2 Constitutions and the search for a viable political order
- 3 Devising popular and durable national constitutions: the new constitutions of the 1990s
- 4 Perfecting imperfections: amending a constitution
- 5 Presidentialism and restraints upon executive power
- 6 Enhancing access to the political system
- 7 Making legislatures effective
- 8 The judiciary and the protection of constitutional rights
- 9 The devolution of power to local communities
- 10 Developing autochthonous oversight bodies: human rights commissions and offices of the ombudsman
- 11 Seeking constitutional control of the military
- 12 Constitutionalism and emergency powers
- 13 Constitutional governance: the lessons from southern and eastern experience
- Bibliography
- Index
Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 June 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of cases
- List of constitutions
- List of statutes
- List of other instruments
- Map
- Introduction
- 1 The democratic state in Africa: setting the scene
- 2 Constitutions and the search for a viable political order
- 3 Devising popular and durable national constitutions: the new constitutions of the 1990s
- 4 Perfecting imperfections: amending a constitution
- 5 Presidentialism and restraints upon executive power
- 6 Enhancing access to the political system
- 7 Making legislatures effective
- 8 The judiciary and the protection of constitutional rights
- 9 The devolution of power to local communities
- 10 Developing autochthonous oversight bodies: human rights commissions and offices of the ombudsman
- 11 Seeking constitutional control of the military
- 12 Constitutionalism and emergency powers
- 13 Constitutional governance: the lessons from southern and eastern experience
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
We are conscious that there are many pitfalls in writing a book of this kind. They were pointed out over thirty years ago by the authors of a pioneering work on public law and political change in Kenya. Our project is in a sense even more ambitious in that we deal not with one state but eleven eastern and southern African states (the ESA states). Even the title caused us much difficulty. It is to be hoped that readers will get beyond a textual analysis of expressions which raise some difficult questions. What is ‘constitutionalism’? What is ‘good governance’? What are the boundaries of ‘eastern and southern Africa’? What is the relevance of the Commonwealth?
De Smith's view of the concept of constitutionalism is firmly set in a western liberal democratic mould:
The idea of constitutionalism involves the proposition that the exercise of governmental power shall be bounded by rules, rules prescribing the procedure according to which legislative and executive acts are to be performed and delimiting their permissible content – Constitutionalism becomes a living reality to the extent that these rules curb the arbitrariness of discretion and are in fact observed by the wielders of political power, and to the extent that within the forbidden zones upon which authority may not trespass there is significant room for the enjoyment of individual liberty.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Comparative Constitutionalism and Good Governance in the CommonwealthAn Eastern and Southern African Perspective, pp. 1 - 4Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004