Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-ttngx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-30T22:29:42.528Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

18 - A Material Understanding of Constitutional Changes

Revisiting ‘Constitutional Maintenance’ Doctrines

from Part III - Analyses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2023

Marco Goldoni
Affiliation:
University of Glasgow
Michael A. Wilkinson
Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
Get access

Summary

The chapter intends to contribute to studies on material constitutionalism by applying Costantino Mortati’s concept of material constitution to discuss theories of constitutional change. In particular, it focusses on ‘constitutional maintenance’ doctrines elaborated in continental Europe to explain cases of limited and/or substantively guided constitutional changes, generally eluding the formal amending procedures. It argues that while constitutional maintenance doctrines catch one of the functions of the theory of the material constitution, namely, to guide constitutional changes, they fall into a logical contradiction by: (a) observing constitutional changes on the basis of mismatches between constitutional practice and the master-text constitution; and (b) supporting the need to minimise those mismatches. The argument is preceded by an analysis of doctrinal debates on constitutional change in selected jurisdictions. It is then developed by unpacking the material constitution theory in two logical steps. In particular, it will focus on the problem of the identification of the constitution and on the related need to reduce the substantive distance between the formal and the material constitution. Eventually, the chapter offers conclusions on how material constitutionalism can contribute to studies on constitutional change.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×