Is There Constitutionalism After Communism
Institutional Optimism, Cultural Pessimism, and the Rule of Law
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9951834 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Martin Krygier (0000-0003-3724-0801, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1996 |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 17-47 |
| Publication date | 1996-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0020-7659 • E-ISSN: 1557-9336 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/15579336.1996.11770146 |
| OpenAlex | W2556178591 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
This article discusses two contrasting tendencies in thought about postcommunist experiments with constitutionalism and the rule of law: institutional optimism and cultural pessimism. The first tendency focuses on institutional design. Typically it draws on theoretical models or foreign comparisons. Often it ignores, or does not know what to make of, cultural particularity. The second emphasizes such particularity. In extreme forms it encourages a generalized skepticism about the potential for successful grafts of imported institutions, ideas, and values.The article seeks to establish the insights and limitations of both tendencies. It supports the view that institutional designs need to be culturally grounded, but rejects common forms of cultural pessimism, which would rule out transformative ambitions in principle, rather than encourage sensible caution about problems they might confront and pitfalls they should avoid. The article also seeks to convey some of the complexity of relationships between culture and agency and to distinguish between, and probe the differing implications of, several distinct sorts of cultural explanation. It concludes that, while there is no overwhelming reason to believe that constitutionalism and the rule of law will be successfully established in postcommunist Europe, there is equally no overwhelming reason to believe that they will not
Agency (philosophy · Communism · Constitutionalism · Democracy · Economics · Epistemology · Law and economics · Optimism · Pessimism · Political science · Positive economics · Skepticism · Sociology · Transformative learning · European and International Law Studies · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Law · Law in Society and Culture · Philosophy
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,33 |
| Citation span | 2014 - 2022 (9) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |