Miller Center Bicentennial Series on Constitutionalism
1 primary work • 3 total works
Volume 1
The present volume contains a collection of presentations and essays on basic elements of constitutionalism. They run the gamut from a philosophical inquiry into the distinguishing characteristics of constitutionalism and democracy; an historical analysis of the Virginia Ratification Convention of 1788; an essay on Jefferson and the language of liberty; a critical paper on the presidency in relationship to the constitutional system; and a concluding discussion of the living as distinct from the written constitution. Such a group can prepare the way for a discussion of comparative constitutionalism by making clear the essential nature of the U.S. Constitution and the principles and practices that brought it into being.
The U.S. Constitution and the Constitutions of Asia
by Kenneth W. Thompson
Published 17 February 1989
The U.S. Constitution was written by men who sought not only to fashion a government for themselves but for societies everywhere. Their ideas formed a document that may be more far-reaching than the greatest scientific discovery in its influence on governments and societies throughout the world. The present volume, which examines that influence, is one in a series on constitutions in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America. Its focus is on the mutual interaction of the U.S. Constitution and constitutions in Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Australia, and the People's Republic of China. It examines both historical and contemporary constitutions and evaluates fundamental problems that recur in important world regions.
v. 5
The U.S. Constitution and Constitutionalism in Africa
by Kenneth W. Thompson
Published 16 February 1990
More, perhaps, than any other world region, Africa is a living laboratory for observing the interrelation between American, European, and African ideas of constitutionalism. In the post-World War II era, America sought to bring freedom and self-determination to Africa in what we considered a correction of the policies of the European colonial powers. The one exception, which prevented Americans from claiming to be wholly anticolonial, was Libya. Elsewhere,we saw our goals as convergent with those of Africans and therefore likely to contribute to their political and constitutional growth. Africans saw us not only as anticolonial but domestically racist, as internationally espousing aims coinciding with theirs but domestically acting in ways antithetical to their values. One way or another, Americans influenced African developments, whether by example or by failure to practice what we preached. In either case, Africa embraced ideas such as national self-determination and racial equality which Americans had professed. It is within this broader context that the contributors to this volume have approached constitutionalism.