David Landau

• Florida State University

A deep tension exists in many parts of the world between commitments to democracy and procedures for constitutional amendment. Amendments are frequently passed that follow formal democratic procedures but are aimed at achieving anti-democratic or “abusive” constitutional aims—i.e., to help powerful presidents extend their term in office, to remove...

This paper identifies and grapples with an increasingly important phenomenon: the use of mechanisms of constitutional change to erode the democratic order. A rash of recent incidents in countries as diverse as Egypt, Venezuela, and Hungary has shown that the tools of constitutional amendment and replacement can be used by would-be autocrats to crea...

With the recent wave of regime change in the Middle East, the process of constitution-making must again become a central concern for those interested in comparative law and politics. The conception of constitutional politics associated with Jon Elster and Bruce Ackerman views constitution-making as a potentially higher form of lawmaking with differ...

In this brief invited contribution, I argue that scholars and policymakers studying democratic transitions need to shift focus away from the moment at which the break with the old regime occurs towards the moment at which new constitutional orders are constructed. The constitution-making processes in countries like Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, for ex...

The Spanish version of this paper can be found at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1950411This report has been prepared for the Commission on Truth and Reconciliation of Honduras. It has two aims: first to give a legal and constitutional analysis of the events surrounding the removal of President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales from power in June 2009 (Part IV...

Los estudiosos del derecho constitucional comparado no han entendido que las diferencias radicales en la configuración de las instituciones políticas influyen en la forma en que las Cortes realizan su labor. En este escrito desarrollo una teoría comparada del rol judicial centrada en las diferencias generales del contexto político, en particular de...

Comparative constitutional law scholarship has not realized that differences in the configuration of political institutions should bear upon the way courts do their jobs. This paper develops a comparative theory of judicial role that focuses on broad differences in political context, and particularly in party systems, across countries. I use a case...

La versión en Inglés de este documento se puede encontrar en http://ssrn.com/abstract=1915214Este reporte ha sido preparado para la Comisión de la Verdad y la Reconciliación. El presente reporte tiene dos fines: primero dar un análisis legal y constitucional sobre los eventos relacionados con la destitución del Presidente José Manuel Zelaya Rosales...

Despite the American refusal to include socio-economic rights in the U.S. constitution or to enforce them, the vast majority of constitutions around the world now include these rights, and courts are enforcing them in increasingly aggressive and creative ways. Scholars have produced a large and theoretically rich literature on the topic. Virtually...

Comparative constitutional law scholarship has largely ignored political institutions. It has therefore failed to realize that radical differences in the configuration of political institutions should bear upon the way courts do their jobs. Parting from a case study of the Colombian Constitutional Court, this paper develops a theory of judicial rol...

Comparative constitutional law scholarship has largely ignored political institutions. It has therefore failed to realize that radical differences in the configuration of political institutions should bear upon the way courts do their jobs. Parting from a case study of the Colombian Constitutional Court, this paper develops a theory of judicial rol...

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