Making We the People

Making We the People feels like a blast from the past. Mainstream political science these days focuses a significant amount of its manpower and resources on analyzing very specific aspects of institutions within or across nations utilizing ever more complex models and sophisticated statistical analysis. Meanwhile, Hahm and Kim’s book does not rely on regressions or rational choice theory; it is a more traditional enterprise in both substance and style, yet one that deserves the highest praise. Making We the People is an exemplary treatment of a theoretically and practically important topic. The co-authors’ extremely thorough knowledge of classical and present literature on political thought and constitutional law has enabled them to present an intellectually compelling narrative. Hahm and Kim are concerned with the very simple yet at the same time theoretically complex and far-reaching issue of constitutional making and the status of the sovereign people. A liberal democratic constitution has to be promulgated in the name of ‘we, the people’ to avoid having its legitimacy questioned from day one. However, this supreme law created supposedly by, for and with the people, at the same time also stipulates who is included and excluded from ‘we, the people’. In the words of the authors, ‘a Constitution was drafted by the convention and then subsequently attributed to the people, who in effect came into being as a result of that act of attribution and became the author of the constitution only retroactively’ (p. 60). Furthermore, while it is assumed that ‘we, the people’ are a consistent, fixed unit, the constitution has to break with the past to usher in a new (democratic) era and regime detached from and superior to the past.

Constitution · Convention · Democracy · Law and economics · Legitimacy · Mainstream · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Popular sovereignty · Praise · Sociology · Sovereignty · Chinese history and philosophy · Japanese History and Culture · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology · Socioeconomic Development in Asia

• What’s Unique about the Japanese Constitution

  Kenneth Mori Mcelwain, Christian G Winkler et al.•Journal of Japanese Studies•2015

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