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NCCR Publications Publications in Press How Open Is International Law to Constitutional Reform?
| How Open Is International Law to Constitutional Reform? |
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Forthcoming NCCR Working Paper
Abstract To what extent is international law open to constitutional reform? This paper identifies the structural foundations of international law and exposes their relationship with constitutional thinking from a legal, historical and social science perspective. It is an uneasy relationship. The most basic assumptions of international law revolve around statehood. Because statehood is politically self-enforcing, international law has been closed to constitutional reform for most of its history, even in the face of major external shocks. However, change may be under way. Today, a reconfiguration of international law’s foundations seems more likely because the set of situations in which statehood remains self-enforcing is narrowing. The descent of statehood and the corresponding ascent of new actors offer a window of opportunity, albeit an uncertain one, for constitutional reform to unfold. |
