Constitutionalism, Legitimacy, and Power

Introduction

If one counts the production of constitutional documents alone, the nineteenth century can lay claim to being a ''constitutional age''; one in which the generation and reception of constitutional texts served as a centre of gravity around which law and politics consistently revolved.

Purpose of the Volume

This volume critically re-examines the role of constitutionalism in that period, in order to counter established teleological narratives that imply a consistent development from absolutism towards inclusive, participatory democracy.

Scope and Approach

Various aspects of constitutional histories within and outside of Europe are examined from a comparative, transnational, and multidisciplinary historical perspective, organized around five key themes.

Part One

Looks at constitutions as anti-revolutionary devices, and addresses state building, monarchical constitutionalism, and restorations.

Part Two

Focuses on constitutions and the justification of new social inequalities, including women''s suffrage, human rights, and property.

Part Three

Uses individual country studies to explore how constitutions served to promote nationalism.

Part Four

Examines the use of constitutions as instruments of imperialism.

Part Five

Considers how constitutions function simultaneously as legal and political texts.

Overall Reflection

These themes reflect a certain scepticism regarding any easy relationship between stated constitutional ideals and enacted constitutional practices. Taken together, they also function as a general working hypothesis about the role of constitutions in the establishment and maintenance of a domestically and internationally imbalanced status quo, of which we are the present-day inheritors.

Question Addressed

More particularly, this volume addresses the question of the extent to which nineteenth-century constitutionalism may have set the stage for new forms of domination and discrimination, rather than inaugurating a period of ''progress'' and increasing equality.