Revolutionary Constitutions: Charismatic Leadership and the Rule of Law

by Bruce Ackerman

A robust defense of democratic populism by one of America’s most renowned and controversial constitutional scholars—the award-winning author of We the People.Populism is a threat to the democratic world, fuel for demagogues and reactionary crowds—or so its critics would have us believe. But in his award-winning trilogy We the People, Bruce Ackerman showed that Americans have repeatedly rejected this view. Now he draws on a quarter century of scholarship in this essential and surprising inquiry into the origins, successes, and threats to revolutionary constitutionalism around the world. He takes us to India, South Africa, Italy, France, Poland, Burma, Israel, and Iran and provides a blow-by-blow account of the tribulations that confronted popular movements in their insurgent campaigns for constitutional democracy. Despite their many differences, populist leaders such as Nehru, Mandela, and de Gaulle encountered similar dilemmas at critical turning points, and each managed something overlooked but essential. Rather than deploy their charismatic leadership to retain power, they instead used it to confer legitimacy to the citizens and institutions of constitutional democracy.Ackerman returns to the United States in his last chapter to provide new insights into the Founders’ acts of constitutional statesmanship as they met very similar challenges to those confronting populist leaders today. In the age of Trump, the democratic system of checks and balances will not survive unless ordinary citizens rally to its defense. Revolutionary Constitutions shows how activists can learn from their predecessors’ successes and profit from their mistakes, and sets up Ackerman’s next volume, which will address how elites and insiders co-opt and destroy the momentum of revolutionary movements.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Law

455 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 13, 2019

Reviews

[Mauni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ackerman seeks a deeper understanding of the pathways to constitutionalism, offering three Weberian ideal types through which constitutions have won legitimacy over the past 100 years. He contends that these pathways offer “powerful insights" into the dilemmas confronting leading nations in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America” in addition to the European Union and the United States. Powerful stuff.

The three ideal types are (1) revolutionary constitutions (USA/India/France/South Africa); (2) insider-outsider constitutions (Japan/Germany); (3) unwritten constitutions (UK...)

Despite their many differences, revolutionary constitutions are generally characterized by populist leaders such as George Washington, Nehru, Mandela, and de Gaulle encountering similar dilemmas at critical historical points, and each managing to confer legitimacy to institutions of constitutional democracy. By contrast, Japan and Germany had their constitutional orders imposed on them as part of the post-war settlement. Accordingly, their domestic politics have been marred by popular challenges to constitutional limitations (e.g. Shinzo Abe seeking to repeal the anti-military constitution).

Finally, the British have a uniquely British disposition to constitutions...consisting of ‘pragmatic insiders, not revolutionary outsiders’ muddling through historical turmoil, making strategic concessions to popular movements, and maintaining a sense of continuity, just in time to make it home for tea. Britain's constitutional history is thus a series of well-timed adjustments and concessions: Reform Act 1832, Parliament Act 1911..

A must for serious students of comparative con. law or comparative global politics

[Richard Marney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to read the book through twice in order to grasp fully the content. I am pleased I did. Of all the books I have read this year, I learned the most from Mr. Ackerman's historical survey of the evolution of revolutionary constitutions in countries ranging from India, Such Africa, Poland to the United States. Whilst there is much on which to comment, two realisations remain prominent: First, even in countries like the US, where we believe the constitutional framework is rock-solid, "we, the people," must be vigilant to challenges to basic freedoms and the reality that battles such as the defence of the New Deal and the Great Society continue today. Second, a stable and sustainable balance between the right and the left is essential over the longer term, for without this, the country could well confront a constitutional crisis that will in the words of the author, "make the court packing struggle of 1937 appear tame by comparison."

[Luciana Perez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, super well written and very informational! I learned a ton about other countries constitutional processes (creation and structure wise). The final chapter was amazing! I do wish that the other chapters had been less information heavy at certain points, more like the final chapter.