Constitutional Dialogues in Comparative Perspective

The book contains essays written by scholars of law and political science exploring in interdisciplinary fashion the relationship between law and politics in cross-national perspective, focusing principally on contemporary Europe. Despite a revival of interest in the United States in the role of the legal system within the overall political system, the European dimensions of the relationship are only beginning to receive the attention they deserve. Europe is especially interesting because of the enormity of contemporary changes there. In the West, domestic developments are to some extent over-shadowed by the emergence of two supranational courts - the European Court of Justice (ECJ) of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). In the East, nations are reconstituting their whole legal and political orders. The essays in the book will span the field of current interest, including questions of judicial activism, the protection of human rights, the roles of the ECJ and the ECHR, and the challenges of judicial and constitutional reform in the post-communist countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The essays in the book result from an intensive four-week faculty seminar held at the University of Iowa's Center for Advanced Studies.

Table of Contents:
Foreword by J.H.H.Weiler Introduction: Constitutional Dialogues in Comparative Perspective; S.J.Kenney, W.M.Reisinger and J.C.Reitz Constitutional Dialogues: Protecting Rights in France, Germany, Italy and Spain; A.S.Sweet Experimental Constitutionalism: A Comparative Analysis of the Institutional Bases of Rights Enforcement in Postcommunist Hungary; J.Seitzer Political Economy and Abstract Review in Germany, France and the United States; J.C.Reitz A Comparative Study of the Constitutional Protection of Hate Speech in Canada and the United States: A Search for Explanations; W.G.Buss Intercultural Citizenship: Statutory Interpretation and Belonging in Britain; S.Sterett The Judges of the Court of Justice of the European Communities; S.J.Kenney Legal Orientations and the Rule of Law in Post-Soviet Russia; W.M.Reisinger The Success of Judicial Review; M.Shapiro Cases and Official Documents Cited Books, Articles and Chapters Cited

About the Author :
SALLY J. KENNEY is Associate Professor of Public Policy and Law at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota where she also directs the Center on Women and Public Policy. She is the author of For Whose Protection? Reproductive Hazards and Exclusionary Policies in the United States and Britain. WILLIAM M.REISINGER is Professor of Political Science, University of Iowa. His research focuses on democratization in the former communist states and post-Soviet public opinion. He is the author of numerous articles and chapters and of Energy and the Soviet Bloc: Alliance Politics Since Stalin. He is co-author of Can Democracy Take Root in Post-Soviet Russia? JOHN C.REITZ is Professor of Law at the University of Iowa College of Law and a specialist in the comparative study of legal systems. After earning a B.A. in German Language and Literature at Harvard College and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School, he practised law for eight years in Washington, DC. He held scholarships from Fulbright and the German Marshall Fund of the United States to conduct research at the University of Muenster, Germany.

Review :
'This book is among the most remarkable of its kind to be published to date. It is a reflection of the best in a new scholarly approach to legal Europe and it has some unique features which position it on a pedestal all its own.Though this is not the case today, twenty years ago or so, the mere fact of putting out a book of this kind would have been remarkable. In tone, content and erudition it is exemplary. That alone is worth a great deal. What makes it so remarkable, however, is both scope and execution. First , its definition of Europe is bold and operates at many levels. Its definition of the legal landscape is also bold and transcends not only the old but also much of the new genre of European law scholarship. A third virtue is its methodological richness, which is short-changed by the bland catchphrase - political science. In truth it is the broad range of social sciences which inform the various contributions as well as that delicate interface between legal theory and political science. Perhaps the greatest contribution of the entire volume, is in provoking us to a deeper understanding of the phenomenology of courts, judicial review and constitutionalism in contexts which are different from the well-established and well known Western liberal nation-state. In this sense the literature has been greatly enriched by this volume and for that, all contributors should been congratulated.' - from the foreword by J.H.H.Weiler, Manley Hudson Professor and Jean Monnet Chair, Harvard University and Co-Director, Academy of European Law, European University Institute, Florence '...this volume should prove useful and suggestive to comparative legal and political scholars.' - Maria McFarland, International Law and Politics