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Keepers of the Common Good: The People, Opinion, and the Social Foundations of Constitutional Authority

Keepers of the Common Good: The People, Opinion, and the Social Foundations of Constitutional Authority

Author: D.J. Galligan
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780198907367
Published In: October 2024
Format: Hardback
Jurisdiction: U.K. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

List Price: HKD 1,625.00

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Contents

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Drawing upon David Hume's observation that, on the one hand people readily submit to authority, while on the other hand, authority depends on their opinion, Keepers of the Common Good examines the intricate interplay between opinion and submission to authority. The author proposes and develops a novel social understanding of constitutional authority and the place of the people.

Analysing selected episodes of rebellion throughout history, the book traces the relationship between the people and the officials who govern. From the peasants of Gagliano who rejected the Italian state as illegitimate, to a wealth of rebellions in English history, the book builds on the social foundation earlier eloquently expressed as 'peoples precede nations'. In developing this idea, the author identifies, first, a lower register of constitutional discourse and ideas that emerge naturally within communities, and then, secondly, an upper register that gives meaning and justification to the prevailing constitutional order. By examining both registers, the book reveals their foundations, upon which an illuminating account of social relations between rulers and the ruled, officials, and the people is constructed.

The book then identifies three distinct forms of rule: princely rule, people ruling themselves, and rule by representatives. After evaluating each model's explanatory power in explaining how people experience and influence the constitutional field, a fourth model of rule is proposed: the keeper's model. This model is used to explain the place and practice of the people in modern constitutional systems, broadly considered democratic. Although the book is not a study of democracy, a fresh and realistic understanding emerges from the keeper's model of the place of the people within the constitutional field.

Part I. Foundations: Social Foundations of Constitutional Authority

I:Hume's Philosophical Eye

II:Praise, Fictions, and Beyond

III:Foundations of Social Understanding

IV:Purpose to Action

Part II. Constitutional Field

V:Constitutional Field

VI:The Sovereignty Deficit

VII:Upper Register of Constitutional Discourse

VIII:Consensus and Consent

IX:Lower Register of Constitutional Discourse

Part III. Constitutional Forms