Constitutional Pluralism Revisited

Forthcoming in European Law Journal (2016)

Edinburgh School of Law Research Paper No. 2016/12

Europa Working Paper No 2016/05

33 Pages Posted: 9 May 2016

See all articles by Neil Walker

Neil Walker

University of Edinburgh, School of Law

Date Written: May 5, 2016

Abstract

This essay revisits the theory of constitutional pluralism. This theory was first developed in the EU context as a way of understanding and defending the absence of a broadly agreed source of final authority in the relationship between national and supranational (EU) legal systems and their respective appellate courts in the context of the significant increase in supranational jurisdiction around the time of the Maastricht Treaty 25 years ago. The essay argues that the theory of constitutional pluralism remains relevant today, in particular offering better explanatory and justificatory accounts of the EU than any of the singularist (or monist), holist or federalist alternatives. Its continuing relevance, however, depends on a more explicit focus on the political underpinnings of the legal and judicial dimensions of constitutional pluralism than has typically been the case in the literature, and on more detailed consideration of the preconditions, forms and limits of constitutional initiative in the contemporary phase of unprecedented challenge to the legitimacy of the EU.

Keywords: constitution, European Union, pluralism, monism, holism, sovereignty, sovereign debt crisis

Suggested Citation

Walker, Neil, Constitutional Pluralism Revisited (May 5, 2016). Forthcoming in European Law Journal (2016), Edinburgh School of Law Research Paper No. 2016/12, Europa Working Paper No 2016/05, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2775820 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2775820

Neil Walker (Contact Author)

University of Edinburgh, School of Law ( email )

Old College
South Bridge
Edinburgh, EH8 9YL
United Kingdom

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
671
Abstract Views
2,186
Rank
72,079
PlumX Metrics