Ernst Hirsch Ballin

De coronapandemie maakte ruw en abrupt een einde aan een lange periode van optimisme over menselijke mogelijkheden, hier en in andere landen. Toch is het niet de enige crisis die urgente veranderingen in ons denken en handelen vereist. Al veel langer wordt gewaarschuwd voor de gevolgen van de klimaatverandering en extreme ongelijkheden, maar zonder toereikend effect. Hoe komt het dat zulke brandende kwesties niet genoeg doorklinken in de democratische besluitvorming? Dat is niet alleen een vraag aan de politiek: het gaat ook om burgerschap en de vraag of dat meer is dan ‘je stem laten horen’. In Waakzaam burgerschap laat Ernst Hirsch Ballin zien dat de rechtsstaat richting en inhoud geeft aan democratische processen. In het parlement aanvaarde wetten mogen de macht van de meerderheid niet onaantastbaar maken: ze behoren te kunnen worden getoetst aan de Grondwet en aan rechtsbeginselen. Burgers moeten daarvoor een beroep kunnen doen op de rechter, in Nederland en in Europees verband. Mensenrechten moeten de ontwikkeling van persoonlijke en gezamenlijke levensprojecten veiligstellen. Daarbij is solidariteit tussen mensen, met volgende generaties en met de natuur als geheel onmisbaar.

Vertrouwen in democratie en rechtsstaat herwinnen

Waakzaam burgerschap

Gerhard van der Schyff

Maarten Stremler

Maartje De Visser

The European Yearbook of Constitutional Law (EYCL) is an annual publication devoted to the study of constitutional law. It aims to provide a forum for in-depth analysis and discussion of new developments in the field, both in Europe and beyond. This second volume examines the constitutional positioning of cities across space and time. Unrelenting urbanisation means that most people are, or soon will be, living in cities and that city administrations become, in many respects, their quintessential governing units. Cities are places where State power is operationalised and concretised; where laws and government policies transform from parchment objectives to practical realities. In a similar vein, cities are also places for the realisation of the constitutional rights and liberties enjoyed by individuals. The book is organised around three sets of relations that await further unpacking in theory as well as practice: that between cities and other institutions in the national constitutional architecture; that between cities and their inhabitants; and that between cities and international organisations. The contributions to this book show the marked diversity in the role and powers available to cities in Europe and beyond, and identify principles and approaches to help stipulate new ways of thinking about the legal role and relevance of cities going forward. Ernst Hirsch Ballin is distinguished university professor at Tilburg University and vice-dean for research of Tilburg Law School. Gerhard van der Schyff is associate professor at Tilburg Law School, Department of Public Law and Governance. Maarten Stremler is lecturer at Maastricht University, Faculty of Law, Department of Public Law. Maartje De Visser is associate professor at SMU School of Law, Singapore.

The City in Constitutional Law

European Yearbook of Constitutional Law 2020

Maurice Adams

Anne Meuwese

Rule of law and constitutionalist ideals are understood by many, if not most, as necessary to create a just political order. Defying the traditional division between normative and positive theoretical approaches, this book explores how political reality on the one hand, and constitutional ideals on the other, mutually inform and influence each other. Seventeen chapters from leading international scholars cover a diverse range of topics and case studies to test the hypothesis that the best normative theories, including those regarding the role of constitutions, constitutionalism and the rule of law, conceive of the ideal and the real as mutually regulating.

Bridging Idealism and Realism

Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law

Citizens’ rights are the essential connecting link between human rights and life in a democratic society. The right to be a citizen can bridge the gap between the universality of human rights and the changing political and social settings of people’s lives.

Ernst Hirsch Ballin

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