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The Politics of Constitution Making: Transforming Politics into Constitutions
Author(s) -
PREUSS ULRICH K.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
law and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.534
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1467-9930
pISSN - 0265-8240
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9930.1991.tb00061.x
Subject(s) - constitutionalism , principle of legality , politics , constitution , unitary state , political science , law and economics , law , civil society , character (mathematics) , sociology , democracy , geometry , mathematics
According to our conventional perception of the interrelations between revolutions and constitutions, constitutions perpetuate the interests of the victorious forces of the revolution. This paper analyzes the distinctive character of the revolutions of 1989 in East and Central Europe with respect to their claim to constitutionalism. The main characteristic of these revolutions is the disbelief of their proponents in the postulate of a homogeneous unitary popular will which imposes itself on the society. Intead, two different concepts of civil society have been emerging, both of which can be connected with a more elaborate notion of constitutionalism. Constitutions can be understood as institutional devices which encourage the endurance of their legality without being entirely dependent on either the principle of self‐interest or the idea of pre‐political consensus.