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National Parliaments and European Democracy; A Bottom-up Approach to European ConstitutionalismEditors: Dr. Olaf Tans, Dr. Carla Zoethout, Prof. Jit Peters, June 2007, 253p. Binding: hardback. ISBN: 978-90-76871-81-3. Price: €65, $108. Language: English. |
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About the bookThis book engages in the vivid debate about the role of national parliaments in the future European democracy. These parliaments are widely regarded to be essential in reducing the EU’s democratic deficit, but it remains unclear how their function should be organised. Attempts to arrive at Union-wide regulation, for example in the constitutional treaty, have not resulted in a comprehensive regime based on a clear political philosophy. The purpose of this volume is to contribute to such a regime on the basis of a comparative analysis of scrutiny systems, as they exist today. In this respect, the book proposes a ‘bottom-up’ approach to European constitutionalism, which means that the political systems of the Member States are considered to be the prime source of inspiration, the main input, to the process of establishing supranational norms. |
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About the editorsOlaf Tans is a legal philosopher and political scientist. He defended his PhD-thesis in 2003, which analyses the communicative function of constitutional claims on the basis of insights from legal/political philosophy and discourse theory. After working as a postdoc in the project 'Political Control in a European and Constitutional Perspective’, he became assistant professor of legal philosophy at the Free University of Amsterdam in 2007. His current research interests are: (European) constitutionalism, discourse theory and evolution of law.
Carla Zoethout is associate professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law, Faculty of Law, University of Amsterdam. She has lectured for several years at the Free University of Amsterdam, Erasmus University Rotterdam and Leiden University. Her thesis is on Constitutionalism. A comparative study of limited government (1995). Main topics of scientific interest: (European) constitutional law and constitutional theory in comparative perspective, human rights and comparative politics.
Jit Peters is professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law, Faculty of Law, University of Amsterdam. Earlier he worked as Deputy Director General at the Ministry of Interior, as Director at the Ministry of Environment and as Alderman and City Counsellor of the City of Leyden. At the University of Leyden, where he earlier was employed as associate professor, he wrote his thesis on the freedom of expression in The Netherlands and the USA (1981). His current research interests are the role of the judiciary in relation to the political process and the relation of national constitutions with the international constitutional order. |
Europa Law PublishingPO Box 6047 |
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Book reviewFrancesco Duina (EJIL 19 [2008], 443–457): "this is a thoroughly enjoyable, informative, and ambitious book that no scholar of NPs in the EU can afford to overlook." |
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