Routledge Research in Constitutional Law Ser.: Weak Constitutionalism : ...

Taylor & Francis Ltd

Weak ConstitutionalismDemocratic Legitimacy and the Question of Constituent Power\nAuthor(s): Joel Coln-Ros\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd, United Kingdom\nImprint: Routledge\nISBN-13: 9780415741484, 978-0415741484\nSynopsis\nIt has been frequently argued that democracy is protected and realized under constitutions that protect certain rights and establish the conditions for a functioning representative democracy. However, some democrats still find something profoundly unsettling about contemporary constitutional regimes. The participation of ordinary citizens in constitutional change in the world's most \""advanced\"" democracies (such as the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom) is weak at best: the power of constitutional reform usually lies in the exclusive hands of legislatures. How can constitutions that can only be altered by those occupying positions of power be considered democratically legitimate? \n\nThis book argues that only a regime that .