New Constitutional Horizons Towards a Pluralist Constitutional Theory

We live in a pluralist world of multi-level law and governance. More than ever before multiple legal systems and governing authorities at different levels - sub-state, state, supranational, international - are recognized as applying to, and claiming authority over, the affairs of the same sets of individuals and institutions. Yet our constitutional theories fail to adequately capture this pluralist state of affairs. This book examines some of the key conceptual and theoretical puzzles which the contemporary state of multilevel pluralism poses for our constitutional theories. It offers fresh perspectives on these questions by addressing the pluralism of norms and authorities from the viewpoint of legality and legitimacy respectively, proposing novel solutions for pluralizing constitutional theory in the light of contemporary multilevel governance. Our turbulent times are on a steady trajectory of ever-more pluralism of law and governance to tackle the defining social and political problems of our age including populism, pandemic, and climate change and this book provides an essential intervention in debates on how to pluralize constitutional theory to better understand and, perhaps more importantly, legitimize the tools to address these increasingly shared problems.

1 - Introduction: The 'Circumstances of Constitutional Pluralism'
2 - The Possibility of Constitutional Plurality
3 - Law Beyond the Shadow of the State
4 - Moving Beyond the Monist Manner in Theorizing Constitutional Plurality
5 - Constitutional Dualisms
6 - What's Wrong with Constitutionalism? Between Cacophony and Coercion
7 - What's Wrong with Transnational Constitutionalism? Dealing with the No-Demos Thesis
8 - What's Right with (Transnational) Constitutionalism: Towards an Interpretive Transnational Constitutional Pluralism

Cormac S. Mac Amhlaigh is Senior Lecturer in Public Law at the University of Edinburgh School of Law. He received his PhD from the European University Institute and his research focuses on UK constitutional law, public law and constitutional theory, the relevance and use of public law concepts beyond the state, and the theory and practice of human rights law.