Constitutional Constraints in Politics


Whittington, Keith E. “Constitutional Constraints in Politics”. The Supreme Court and the Idea of Constitutionalism. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009. Print.


Constitutional constraints cannot be effectuated outside of politics. They must be interpreted and put into action within the political system, by political actors operating in political institutions. This raises a variety of possible threats to the efficacy of constitutional constraints. This chapter considers four distinct threats and their possible solutions: 1) constitutional resistance, 2) constitutional forgetfulness, 3) constitutional neglect, and 4) constitutional contestation.

Last updated on 07/11/2014