Overview

This book describes the constitutions of six major federations and how they have been interpreted by their highest courts, compares the interpretive methods and underlying principles that have guided the courts, and explores the reasons for major differences between these methods and principles.Among the interpretive methods discussed are textualism, purposivism, structuralism and originalism. Each of the six federations is the subject of a separate chapter written by a leading authority in the field: Jeffrey Goldsworthy (Australia), Peter Hogg (Canada), Donald Kommers (Germany), S.P. Sathe (India), Heinz Klug (South Africa), and Mark Tushnet (United States). Each chapter describes not only the interpretive methodology currently used by the courts, but the evolution of that methodology since the constitution was first enacted. The book also includes a concluding chapter which compares these methodologies, and attempts to explain variations by reference to different social, historical, institutional and political circumstances.

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9780199226474

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Reviews

<br> The book is a success. The essays are largely coherent in both structure and vocabulary; the authors manage to insert distinct perspectives while keeping to their organizational discipline; and the essays support readers in generating ideas for new research directions. Although the book focuses on questions of constitutional interpretation, the comparative orientation and the scope of constitutional questions that each essay addresses will make it a valuable reference for political scientists and political theorists, not just lawyers. The book will prove especially useful to graduate students or researchers contemplating a shift in their primary research direction. - Mariah Zeisberg, The Law and Politics Book Review (Vol. 16, No. 8)<p><br>

The book is a success. The essays are largely coherent in both structure and vocabulary; the authors manage to insert distinct perspectives while keeping to their organizational discipline; and the essays support readers in generating ideas for new research directions. Although the book focuses on questions of constitutional interpretation, the comparative orientation and the scope of constitutional questions that each essay addresses will make it a valuable reference for political scientists and political theorists, not just lawyers. The book will prove especially useful to graduate students or researchers contemplating a shift in their primary research direction. - Mariah Zeisberg, The Law and Politics Book Review (Vol. 16, No. 8)

Author Information

Jeffrey Goldsworthy holds a Personal Chair at Monash University. His major interests are legal philosophy, and constitutional law, theory, and history. He has numerous publications in these fields, and is best known for his book ""The Sovereignty of Parliament, History and Philosophy"" (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1999), and many journal articles on constitutional interpretation.

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