CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2014
| Author | Vámos, Róbert |
|---|---|
| Title | LEGITIMATING CONDITIONS OF DEMOCRATIC CONSTITUTION MAKING: EVALUATING THE HUNGARIAN CONSTITUTION MAKING PROCEDURES OF 1989 AND 2011 |
| Summary | This thesis is a theoretical inquiry as to how different views of democracy can address the question of the legitimate conditions of constitution-making. This theoretical analysis focuses on the democratic legitimacy claims about constitutional politics made by Bruce Ackerman. The three fundamental pillars in Ackerman's typology of conceptions will serve as an evaluative framework for the constitution-making procedures that took place in Hungary in 1989 and 2011. The examination aims to show that accounts of the legitimate exercise of political authority in a democratic system are not all equally capable of addressing the justificatory principles and legitimate conditions of collective decisions in pre-constitutional and extra-constitutional circumstances. This critical enterprise highlights the conceptual shortcomings of purely substantive and purely procedural views of democracy, and may help to evaluate the accuracy of Ackerman`s dualist model of constitutional politics. Based on the results of this theoretical inquiry, the thesis goes on to argue that the Hungarian constitution-making procedure of 2011 may best be described as democratic monism, while the transitional constitution-making process of 1989 may best be conceived through a reversed dualist lens. The thesis finds that both the constitutions of 1989 and 2011 encountered problems of legitimacy, and that while the Fundamental Law of 2011 was both procedurally and substantively flawed, the constitution of 1989 complied with the substantive conditions of legitimacy. |
| Supervisor | Miklosi, Zoltan |
| Department | Political Science MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2014/vamos_robert.pdf |
Visit the CEU Library.
© 2007-2021, Central European University