Seminar 9- 8th
Pre- commitment- tied to the mast so he can hear the songs of the women whose singing and not
die as the women’s singing leads the soldiers to death. Therefore we can use his body as a symbol of
the body politic, whereby being tied to the mast is an act of constraint for future benefit. However,
in a constitutional setting it is such that the tying up i.e. constraint leads to certainty and beneficial
purposes. If the signing of the women does harm to the man who has been constrained then the
other soldiers on the boat whose ears have been stuffed then they could stop the suffering as they
can still see what I going on and could see the man suffering.
John Elster- constitutionalism argument- look him- political theorist.
Limit the definition of constitutionalism to pre- commitment limits the understanding- all this is a
mechanism by which a body reserves a realm of areas from majoritarian politics
Focusing on one aspect of constitutionalism which is pre- commitment- there are other aspects to
constitutionalism:
NORMATIVITY- constitutionalism has the function of state building- moral consensus
between the people creates the notion of a state- it’s the normative dimension of
constitutionalism- C comes with a set of values- distinction between pure procedurialism
and on the other hand the normative approach.
Normative content on proceduralism- rule of law- certainty- transparency this is what
procedures give you.
Normative actions could lead to the notion of fundamental rights. Common law
constitutionalism which seeks to distil and serve values of common law.
The discussion of the three articles:
The three give a broad discussion on constitutionalism:
o Bureaucratic constitutionalism- does it have traction today and can it apply to case
studies in today’s world?
o Ginsberg- issue of applicability to the notions of constitutionalism- comparative
exercise
o McHarg- constitutionalism in the sense of application of notions of constitutionalism
to the policy area of climate change.
Pre- commitment- tied to the mast so he can hear the songs of the women whose singing and not
die as the women’s singing leads the soldiers to death. Therefore we can use his body as a symbol of
the body politic, whereby being tied to the mast is an act of constraint for future benefit. However,
in a constitutional setting it is such that the tying up i.e. constraint leads to certainty and beneficial
purposes. If the signing of the women does harm to the man who has been constrained then the
other soldiers on the boat whose ears have been stuffed then they could stop the suffering as they
can still see what I going on and could see the man suffering.
John Elster- constitutionalism argument- look him- political theorist.
Limit the definition of constitutionalism to pre- commitment limits the understanding- all this is a
mechanism by which a body reserves a realm of areas from majoritarian politics
Focusing on one aspect of constitutionalism which is pre- commitment- there are other aspects to
constitutionalism:
NORMATIVITY- constitutionalism has the function of state building- moral consensus
between the people creates the notion of a state- it’s the normative dimension of
constitutionalism- C comes with a set of values- distinction between pure procedurialism
and on the other hand the normative approach.
Normative content on proceduralism- rule of law- certainty- transparency this is what
procedures give you.
Normative actions could lead to the notion of fundamental rights. Common law
constitutionalism which seeks to distil and serve values of common law.
The discussion of the three articles:
The three give a broad discussion on constitutionalism:
o Bureaucratic constitutionalism- does it have traction today and can it apply to case
studies in today’s world?
o Ginsberg- issue of applicability to the notions of constitutionalism- comparative
exercise
o McHarg- constitutionalism in the sense of application of notions of constitutionalism
to the policy area of climate change.
