The Alchemists: Questioning Our Faith in Courts as Democracy-Builders

Administrative / Constitutional Law

The Alchemists: Questioning Our Faith in Courts as Democracy-Builders

By Tom Gerald Daly
Cambridge University Press November 2017

Specifications

ISBN-13
9781108417945
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Publication
November 2017
Format
Hardback
Jurisdiction
U.K. ? Countri(es) for reference only

Also available as

Paperback

Details

Can courts really build democracy in a state emerging from authoritarian rule? This book presents a searching critique of the contemporary global model of democracy-building for post-authoritarian states, arguing that it places excessive reliance on courts.

Since 1945, both constitutional courts and international human rights courts have been increasingly perceived as alchemists, capable of transmuting the base materials of a nascent democracy into the gold of a functioning democratic system. By charting the development of this model, and critically analysing the evidence and claims for courts as democracy-builders, this book argues that the decades-long trend toward ever greater reliance on courts is based as much on faith as fact, and can often be counter-productive.

Offering a sustained corrective to unrealistic perceptions of courts as democracy-builders, the book points the way toward a much needed rethinking of democracy-building models and a re-evaluation of how we employ courts in this role.

Table of Contents

Preface: our court obsession
Acknowledgments
Table of Cases
List of Abbreviations
Introduction: an onerous role for courts as democracy-builders
1. The core concept: democratisation
2. The rise and limits of constitutional courts as democracy-builders
3. The rise and limits of human rights courts as democracy-builders
4. 'Democratisation jurisprudence': framing courts' democracy-building roles
5. Domestic democratisation jurisprudence in action: Brazil since 1988
6. Regional democratisation jurisprudence: shaping democracy from outside
7. What Should Courts Do in a Young Democracy? Rethinking Our Approach
Concluding thoughts: moving beyond our court obsession
Bibliography
Index.
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