Constitutional Knowledge
Forthcoming, KNOW: A Journal on the Formation of Knowledge, 2018
17 Pages Posted: 23 Aug 2018
Date Written: April 13, 2018
Abstract
The field of comparative constitutional studies is an interdisciplinary inquiry that combines positive and normative analysis, and utilizes tools from several different academic disciplines including history, law, political economy, and sociology. The field reflects James Madison’s confidence that we can utilize the comparative method to produce generalizable knowledge, and to reason our way to normative recommendations. This essay asks whether or not this confidence is justified: What, if anything, can be known about constitutional design? The answer is very little, and this explains why changes in constitutional designs tend to be incremental and cautious.
Keywords: comparative constitutional studies
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