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The Principles of Constitutional Reform

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 November 2019

Jacob Weinrib
Jacob Weinrib*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Law, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada
*
Email: jacob.weinrib@queensu.ca
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Abstract

In legal orders around the world, commitments to democracy, liberalism and constitutionalism are increasingly eroding. Although political and constitutional theorists often lament this trend, they invariably adopt frameworks that are indifferent to these commitments. My aims in this article are both critical and constructive. As a critical matter, I will expose the indifference of the leading political and constitutional theories to the emergence, maintenance and refinement of liberal democratic constitutional orders. As a constructive matter, I will draw on Immanuel Kant’s constitutional theory to explain why realizing such a form of governance is a public duty and why receding from it is a public wrong.

Keywords

constitutional reformconstitutional amendmentsauthorityjusticeconstitutiveregulativeconstituent power
Type
Articles
Information
Kantian Review , Volume 24 , Special Issue 4: Special Issue on Kant & Law , December 2019 , pp. 631 - 651
Copyright
© Kantian Review, 2019 

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