Some constitutional amendments are not really amendments. They are transformative constitutional reforms that reject the essential characteristics of the constitution and destroy its foundations. These constitutional dismemberments demolish the basic structure of the constitution while at the same time building a new foundation rooted in principles contrary to the old. Latin America has been particularly susceptible to constitutional dismemberments. This book draws from law, history, and p...

I****n this eye-opening study of the world's constitutions, scholars explain the creation, operation, revision, and replacement of multi-textual constitutions – a ubiquitous but woefully understudied constitutional form that is ever-present in many countries of the world but as-yet underappreciated in constitutional studies.Constitutions are commonly said to be either 'written' or 'unwritten.' This distinction has ...

Wimbourne Books presents the sixteenth in a series of rare or out-of-print ghost stories from Victorian authors. With an introduction by author Alastair Gunn, Volume 16 contains stories published between 1846 and 1901, all set at or around the Christmas period. Readers new to this genre will discover its pleasures; the Victorian quaintness, the sometimes shocking difference in social norms, the almost comical politeness and structured etiquette, the archaic and precise language, but mostly...

In 1861, just a few years before Confederation, 84 per cent of Canadians lived in rural areas; today, it’s less than 20 per cent. Our municipal governments are asked to do more for their citizens than ever before, yet they must confront myriad challenges – from the public health pandemic to the housing crisis – without the tools they need. They have no constitutional protection from jurisdictional overstepping by provincial governments and no assurance that they will be able to complete an...

Canada’s largest cities have faced exponential growth, with the trajectory rising further still. Due to their high density, cities are the primary sites for opportunities in economic prosperity, green innovation, and cultural activity, and also for critical challenges in homelessness and extreme poverty, air pollution, Indigenous-municipal relationship-building, racial injustice, and transportation gridlock. While city governments are at the forefront of mitigating the challenges of urban ...

Constitutions are often seen as the product of the free will of a people exercising their constituent power. This, however, is not always the case, particularly when it comes to ‘imposed constitutions’. In recent years there has been renewed interest in the idea of imposition in constitutional design, but the literature does not yet provide a comprehensive resource to understand the meanings, causes and consequences of an imposed constitution.This volume examines the theoretical an...

This innovative book blends constitutional theory with real-life political practice to explore the impact of codifying constitutional amendments on the operation of the constitution in relation to democracy, the rule of law, and the separation of powers.It draws from comparative, historical, political and theoretical perspectives to answer questions all constitutional designers should ask themselves:- Should the constitution append amendments sequentially to the end of the t...

It is well known that the US Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times since its creation in 1787, but that number does not reflect the true extent of constitutional change in America. Although the Constitution is globally recognized as a written text, it consists also of unwritten rules and principles that are just as important, such as precedents, customs, traditions, norms, presuppositions, and more. These, too, have been amended, but how does that process work? In this book, lea...

The possibility of democracy-enhancing uses and anti-democratic abuses of referendums reveals a paradox: mechanisms of democracy can be exploited to do violence to the basic principles of democracy. The Limits and Legitimacy of Referendums seeks to identify standards we might use to assess the democratic legitimacy of a referendum when we cannot rely on the norms of traditional liberal democracy. This innovative book explores how referendums manage the tension between liberalism a...

Founding moments are landmark events that break ties with the ancien régime and lay the foundation for the establishment of a new constitutional order. They are often radically disruptive episodes in the life of a state. They reshape national law, reset political relationships, establish future power structures, and influence happenings in neighbouring countries.This edited collection brings together leading and emerging scholars to theorise the phenomenon of a founding mo...

Over the past 30 years, Latin America has lived through an intense period of constitutional change. Some reforms have been limited in their design and impact, while others have been far-reaching transformations to basic structural features and fundamental rights. Scholars interested in the law and politics of constitutional change in Latin America are turning increasingly to comparative methodologies to expose the nature and scope of these changes, to uncover the motivations of political a...

This book, the result of a major international conference held at Yale Law School, contains contributions from leading scholars in public law who engage critically with Bruce Ackerman's path-breaking book, Revolutionary Constitutions: Charismatic Leadership and the Rule of Law. The book also features a rebuttal chapter by Ackerman in which he responds directly to the contributors' essays.Some advance Ackerman's theory, others attack it, and still others refine it – but all...