Journal article

Publication year: 2021

Pages: 427-438

Journal: International Journal of Constitutional Law

Volume number: 19

Issue number: 2

ISSN: 1474-2640

eISSN: 1474-2659

Open access status: Bronze

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/icon/moab041

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Abstract: 
John Hart Ely's Democracy and Distrust is a classic among US theories of judicial review. But how far does Ely's global influence reach? And how useful is Ely's process-based theory for judges operating in systems with a thicker, more substantive understanding of rights and constitutionalism, as prevails in many countries of the Global South, or in a system like Germany? In this introduction to a Symposium on Ely's broader global influence, we sketch out some first answers to these questions, based on the contributions, which cover Mexico, Chile and Bolivia, South Africa, and Germany, as well as Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. If Ely's influence is considerable in some states, most notably New Zealand, it is marginal in others. Even where Ely arguably has been influential, however, his theory has usually been subject to a process of comparative adaptation, to increase its fit with the local legal and political context. Tweaked and adapted, Ely's work can also inspire the construction of new comparative "political process" theories, including in systems where we encounter a thicker, or even transformative, understanding of constitutionalism.

Harvard Citation style: Dixon, R. and Hailbronner, M. (2021) Ely in the world: The global legacy of Democracy and Distrust forty years on, International Journal of Constitutional Law, 19(2), pp. 427-438. https://doi.org/10.1093/icon/moab041

APA Citation style: Dixon, R., & Hailbronner, M. (2021). Ely in the world: The global legacy of Democracy and Distrust forty years on. International Journal of Constitutional Law. 19(2), 427-438. https://doi.org/10.1093/icon/moab041