Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law Bridging Idealism and Realism [Paperback]

An exploration of how rule of law and constitutional ideals inform, and are informed by, political realities.Rule of law and constitutional ideals are understood as necessary to create a just political order. This book explores how political reality and constitutional ideals mutually inform and influence one another.Rule of law and constitutional ideals are understood as necessary to create a just political order. This book explores how political reality and constitutional ideals mutually inform and influence one another.Rule of law and constitutionalist ideals are understood by many, if not most, as necessary to create a just political order. Defying the traditional division between normative and positive theoretical approaches, this book explores how political reality on the one hand, and constitutional ideals on the other, mutually inform and influence each other. Seventeen chapters from leading international scholars cover a diverse range of topics and case studies to test the hypothesis that the best normative theories, including those regarding the role of constitutions, constitutionalism and the rule of law, conceive of the ideal and the real as mutually regulating.Part I. Realism and Idealism in Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law: Theory and History: 1. The ideal and the real in the realm of constitutionalism and the rule of law: an introduction Maurice Adams, Ernst Hirsch Ballin and Anne Meuwese; 2. Tempering power Martin Krygier; 3. Between the 'real' and the 'right': explorations along the institutional-constitutional frontier Peter Lindseth; 4. The emergence of the rule of law in western constitutional history: revising traditional narratives Randall Lesaffer and Shavana Musa; Part II. The Rule of Law in Country-Specific Settings: Case Studies in Reconciling Realism and Idealism: 5. Rule of law, democracy and human rights: the paramountcy of moderation Sumit Bisarya and Elliot Bulmer; 6. The need for realism: ideals and practice in Indonesia's constitlK