Temporal Limitations in Constitutional Amendment

21 Review of Constitutional Studies 37 (2016)

Boston College Law School Legal Studies Research Paper No. 390

28 Pages Posted: 19 Mar 2016 Last revised: 14 Sep 2017

See all articles by Richard Albert

Richard Albert

University of Texas at Austin - School of Law; University of Texas at Austin - Department of Government; Université Paris II - Panthéon-Assas; Universidad de Especialidades Espíritu Santo; Universidad Externado de Colombia - Facultad de Derecho; São Paulo Law School of Fundação Getulio Vargas FGV DIREITO SP; University of Toronto - Faculty of Law; University of Ottawa - Faculty of Law; Reichman University - Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliyah - Harry Radziner School of Law; Airlangga University; Yale University; Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai

Date Written: March 21, 2016

Abstract

Formal amendment rules are designed to fragment or consolidate power, whether among political parties or government branches, or along ethnic, subnational, or other lines. Time is an understudied and undertheorized dimension along which amendment rules may also fragment or consolidate power. This temporal feature of formal amendment rules entails unique implications for how we understand the formation of constitutional consensus and how we evaluate contemporaneity in amendment ratification. In this article, I apply a comparative perspective to the use of time in formal amendment in order to demonstrate the possibilities for the design of temporal limitations and also to probe the trade-off s between political brinkmanship and contemporaneity in ratification. My larger purpose is to suggest a research agenda for further comparative inquiry into the use of time in the design of formal amendment rules.

Keywords: Constitutional Amendment, United States Constitution, Canadian Constitution, Formal Amendment, Meech Lake Accord, Charlottetown Accord, Equal Rights Amendment, Corwin Amendment, Constitutional Design, Time, Deliberation, Ratification, Constitutional Change

Suggested Citation

Albert, Richard, Temporal Limitations in Constitutional Amendment (March 21, 2016). 21 Review of Constitutional Studies 37 (2016), Boston College Law School Legal Studies Research Paper No. 390, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2749288

Richard Albert (Contact Author)

University of Texas at Austin - School of Law ( email )

727 East Dean Keeton Street
Austin, TX 78705
United States
617-756-2622 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://law.utexas.edu/faculty/richard-albert

University of Texas at Austin - Department of Government ( email )

College of Liberal Arts
1 University Station A1800
Austin, TX 78712
United States

Université Paris II - Panthéon-Assas ( email )

12 place du Pantheon
Paris cedex 06, 75231
France

Universidad de Especialidades Espíritu Santo ( email )

Facultad de Derecho
Av. Samborondón 5
Samborondón, 092301
Ecuador

HOME PAGE: http://uees.edu.ec/postgrado/postgrado-derecho

Universidad Externado de Colombia - Facultad de Derecho

Calle 12 # 1-17 este
Calle 12 0 83
Bogota D.C, Cundinamarca 3456
Colombia

HOME PAGE: http://www.uexternado.edu.co/derecho

São Paulo Law School of Fundação Getulio Vargas FGV DIREITO SP

R. Rocha, 233, Bela Vista
São Paulo, 01330-000
Brazil

HOME PAGE: http://direitosp.fgv.br

University of Toronto - Faculty of Law ( email )

78 and 84 Queen's Park
Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C5
Canada

HOME PAGE: http://www.law.utoronto.ca

University of Ottawa - Faculty of Law ( email )

57 Louis Pasteur Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5
Canada

HOME PAGE: http://commonlaw.uottawa.ca

Reichman University - Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliyah - Harry Radziner School of Law ( email )

P.O. Box 167
Herzliya, 46150
Israel

HOME PAGE: http://www.idc.ac.il/en/schools/law/pages/home.aspx

Airlangga University

Dharmawangsa Dalam Selatan
Surabaya, East Java 60286
Indonesia

HOME PAGE: http://www.unair.ac.id

Yale University

493 College St
New Haven, CT CT 06520
United States

Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai ( email )

2nd Floor, CETTM MTNL Building, Technology Street
Hiranandani Gardens, Powai, Mumbai 400076
Maharashtra
India

HOME PAGE: http://mnlumumbai.edu.in/vaf.php

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
329
Abstract Views
1,652
Rank
189,634
PlumX Metrics