Constitutions and the Rule of Law in Asia
In the modern world, formal constitutions are ubiquitous as the legal foundation of the state, standing at the apex of the legal order. As they emerged in a North Atlantic context, constitutional law and the ideal of constitutionalism came to be associated with a liberal model of government in which...
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2024
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croxfordunivpr:10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.2122 2024-09-30T14:39:42+00:00 Constitutions and the Rule of Law in Asia Ramraj, Victor De Visser, Maartje Thiruvengadam, Arun 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.2122 en eng Oxford University Press Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics ISBN 9780190228637 reference-entry 2024 croxfordunivpr https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.2122 2024-09-17T04:26:12Z In the modern world, formal constitutions are ubiquitous as the legal foundation of the state, standing at the apex of the legal order. As they emerged in a North Atlantic context, constitutional law and the ideal of constitutionalism came to be associated with a liberal model of government in which the state, composed of its leaders and public officials, was limited by law. This model of a constrained government became encapsulated in the ideal of “rule of law”—distinguishing between autocratic systems that were ruled by “men,” on the one hand, and systems in which political leaders were constrained by law, on the other hand. In this model, the courts typically play a critical institutional role in keeping state power within constitutional boundaries. Although this “liberal” model of constitutionalism and the rule of law continue to dominate legal and political thought, the proliferation of postcolonial legal and political regimes, and competing understandings of government and the role of the state, have challenged the dominant liberal understanding of constitutions and the rule of law. Many of these challenges come from Asia, which encompasses a stunning variety of political regimes that shape the environment in which constitutionalism and the ideal of the rule of law acquire meaning. This makes Asia an ideal site from which to explore the contested notions of constitutions, constitutionalism, and the rule of law as powerful explanatory tools and, in some cases, important normative correctives to the liberal model. Book Part North Atlantic Oxford University Press |
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Oxford University Press |
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croxfordunivpr |
language |
English |
description |
In the modern world, formal constitutions are ubiquitous as the legal foundation of the state, standing at the apex of the legal order. As they emerged in a North Atlantic context, constitutional law and the ideal of constitutionalism came to be associated with a liberal model of government in which the state, composed of its leaders and public officials, was limited by law. This model of a constrained government became encapsulated in the ideal of “rule of law”—distinguishing between autocratic systems that were ruled by “men,” on the one hand, and systems in which political leaders were constrained by law, on the other hand. In this model, the courts typically play a critical institutional role in keeping state power within constitutional boundaries. Although this “liberal” model of constitutionalism and the rule of law continue to dominate legal and political thought, the proliferation of postcolonial legal and political regimes, and competing understandings of government and the role of the state, have challenged the dominant liberal understanding of constitutions and the rule of law. Many of these challenges come from Asia, which encompasses a stunning variety of political regimes that shape the environment in which constitutionalism and the ideal of the rule of law acquire meaning. This makes Asia an ideal site from which to explore the contested notions of constitutions, constitutionalism, and the rule of law as powerful explanatory tools and, in some cases, important normative correctives to the liberal model. |
format |
Book Part |
author |
Ramraj, Victor De Visser, Maartje Thiruvengadam, Arun |
spellingShingle |
Ramraj, Victor De Visser, Maartje Thiruvengadam, Arun Constitutions and the Rule of Law in Asia |
author_facet |
Ramraj, Victor De Visser, Maartje Thiruvengadam, Arun |
author_sort |
Ramraj, Victor |
title |
Constitutions and the Rule of Law in Asia |
title_short |
Constitutions and the Rule of Law in Asia |
title_full |
Constitutions and the Rule of Law in Asia |
title_fullStr |
Constitutions and the Rule of Law in Asia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Constitutions and the Rule of Law in Asia |
title_sort |
constitutions and the rule of law in asia |
publisher |
Oxford University Press |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.2122 |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics ISBN 9780190228637 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.2122 |
_version_ |
1811642301357752320 |