Behind a Veil of Ignorance?

This volume is a very interesting research project that includes the most careful work on constitutional power and limits to authority of which I am aware. In general, the contributors find that constitutional negotiations normally took place in settings where uncertainty was considerable. They also find that the more detailed the characterization of power relationships, the more liberal and durable the democracy tends to be. Roger D. Congleton

This book addresses the issue of the impact of uncertainty in constitutional design. To what extent do constitution drafters and adopters make their decisions behind a veil of ignorance? More fundamentally, can we infer from constitutional texts the degree of uncertainty faced by constitution drafters and adopters? After an introduction (chapter 1), the book proceeds in two parts. The first part (chapters 2 to 4) introduces to the intellectual filiation of the project and to its theoretical and methodological foundations. The second part (chapters 5 to 13) presents nine case studies built on the same structure: historical account of the making of the Constitution, results of the content analysis of the constitutional text, and discussion of specific issues raised in the analysis. Chapter 14 concludes.

Employs case studies from around the world to analyze the impact of uncertainty in constitutional design Investigates the degree to which decision-makers choose in their own private interest or in the general interest in constitutional design Analyses the limits to authority and constitutional power within a democracy Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Auteur

Louis M. IMBEAU holds a PhD in Political Science from Northwestern and is the Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis. His research interests include speech and action in fiscal policy, power relations in public policy experts and budget speeches in Quebec. Steve Jacob holds PhD in Political Science from the University of Brussels. His research interests include evaluation of public policies and programs; public administration; managing for results; public performance; ethics and public administration.

Contenu
Part 1: Intellectual filiation, theory and method.- Uncertainty in constitutional decision-making: the sociological legacy.- Uncertainty in constitutional decision-making: the political-economy legacy.- Measuring the opacity of the Veil of Ignorance in constitutions: Theory, method.- Part 2: Case studies.- The USA.- Canada.- Belgium.- France.- Germany.- Italy.- Greece.- Switzerland.- Estonia.- Tunisia.- Cameroon.- Conclusion