The rule of law is a cornerstone of contemporary constitutional democracy1 as was underscored by its role in cementing the recent transitions from authoritarian or totalitarian regimes2 to constitutional democracy in Eastern Europe and elsewhere.3 In the broadest terms, the rule of law requires that the state only subject the citizenry to publicly promulgated laws, that the state’s legislative ...

The Supreme Court’s plurality opinion in Baze v. Rees begins with a seemingly simple assertion of constitutional law. “We begin with the principle, settled by Gregg, that capital punishment is constitutional.” It continues, “[i]t necessarily follows that there must be a means of carrying it out.” This second pronouncement provides the foundation for the Supreme Court’s holding in Baze that Kent...

In this paper I offer a novel interpretation of the challenges posed by ‘constitutional drift’—the tendency for de facto political procedures to alter when these procedures no longer are incentive-compatible for those wielding political power—for sound governance institutions, with special reference to the American republic. While it is widely recognized that various watershed political events,...

Venezuelans are to vote on December 2 on major constitutional reform proposals of president Hugo Chávez. If they are approved, Chávez will have consolidated his hold on power and will have substantially diminished the chances of success of any future challenges to his leadership. They will also bring about a number of significant changes that are intended to pave the way for a wholesale restruc...

This Essay examines the recent wave of American Indian tribal constitutional change through the framework of subnational constitutional theory. When tribes rewrite their constitutions, they not only address internal tribal questions and communicate tribal values, but also engage with other subnational entities, i.e. states, and the federal government. This Essay applies that framework to a stud...

Ataxia telangiectasia patients, with constitutional bi-allelic ATM mutations, have a marked risk of lymphoid tumors and ATM mutation carriers have a smaller risk of cancer. Sporadic ATM mutations occur in 10-20% of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and are often associated with chromosome 11q deletions which cause loss of an ATM allele. The role of constitutional ATM mutations in the pathogenesis of...

What are the consequences of the ongoing process of informatisation for the democratic constitutional state? To answer this question a topical perspective of the constitutional state is provided. In this perspective, the constitutional state is portrayed as a 'house', an edifice to which new storeys and rooms have been added and furnished over the course of centuries. Each storey of this edific...