Sitting at the Same Table: a cross-disciplinary ‘constitutional-institutionalist’ approach to the study of constitutions

International Journal of Law in Context, vol. 19, pp. 255–271

Abstract

Abstract This article presents a cross-disciplinary approach to the study of constitutions: ‘constitutional institutionalism’. Conventional approaches in law, philosophy or political science tend to reduce constitutions either to their formal, factual or ideal aspects. The constitutional-institutionalist approach, by contrast, seeks to integrate these aspects into a more general perspective by focusing on the dynamic interplay between constitutional actors and constitutional norms. It understands constitutional norms as binding institutions that shape and constrain political action, but never fully determine it. Constitutional institutionalism furthermore asserts that constitutional norms, whatever form they take, only have meaning in relation to other constitutional norms as well as to constitutional actors, who impose meaning on these norms. Therefore, constitutional phenomena ultimately require interpretive explanations. This article concludes with a brief constitutional-institutionalist research agenda.

Authors 2

1. Reijer Passchier corresponding Aachen

   Leiden University · Open University of the Netherlands

   Affiliation as printed

   Professor of Digitalisation and the Democratic Constitutional State at the Open University, Assistant Professor of Constitutional Law at Leiden University, PO Box 2960, 6401 DL Heerlen

2. Maarten Stremler

   Maastricht University

   Affiliation as printed

   Assistant Professor of Constitutional Law, Maastricht University, Faculty of Law, Bouillonstraat 1-3, 6211LH Maastricht