There Is No Supreme Constitution: A Critique of Statist-Individualist Constitutionalism
Intro -- Acknowledgements -- About the Author -- Introduction -- Chapter 1 - Constitutionalism -- Introduction -- The core characteristics of constitutionalism -- Normativity - the commitment to justice -- Fundamental (higher) law -- The consensual basis of the rule of law - customary law-abiding conduct -- Limited government -- diffusion and balance of power -- the idea of the mixed constitution -- public office -- Chapter 2 - Statist-individualist Constitutionalism -- Introduction -- Statism - paving the way to statist constitutionalism -- The establishment of statist-individualist constitutionalism -- The nine essential beliefs of statist-individualist constitutionalism -- State-based positive law, more specifically the formulations of the Constitution, is omnipresent -- The Constitution is rigid and actually supreme -- The Constitution is formulation-driven and has a formal-static character -- The supreme value that is placed on the formulations - the written words of the constitutional Document -- Pre-political -- The trias politica and the independence, impartiality and effectiveness of the judiciary -- The preoccupation - fixation - with micro theory (and the statist‑individualist approach to interpretation) -- The twosome consortium of the state and the individual - state sovereignty and abstract universal, individual human rights -- The state is anti-communitarian and anti-pluralist -- Statist-individualist constitutionalism's three key mechanisms -- Supremacy proclamations, entrenchment and conformity mechanisms, andstrict amendment requirements -- The trias politica, checks and balances and the independence andimpartiality of the judiciary -- Bills of individual rights -- Chapter 3 - Statist-individualist Constitutionalism in Post 1994 South Africa -- Introduction.