03430namaa2200577uu 4500 doab63893 oapen 20260305123947.0 m o d cr|mn|---annan 210306s2021 xx |||||o ||| 0|eng d 9780367483593 9780367712280 9781003039525 oapen oapen eng dc HPS bicssc JPHC bicssc LA bicssc LAZ bicssc LN bicssc LND bicssc LNDC bicssc Deseure, Brecht edt Sovereignty, Civic Participation and Constitutional Law The People versus the Nation in Belgium Taylor & Francis 2021 1 online resource text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier Free-to-read Unrestricted online access star "This book brings recent insights about sovereignty and citizen participation in the Belgian Constitution to scholars in the fields of public law, history, and political theory. Throughout the Western world, there are increasing calls for greater citizen participation. Referendums, citizen councils, and other forms of direct democracy are considered necessary antidotes to a growing hostility towards traditional party politics. This book focuses on the Belgian debate, where the introduction of participatory politics has stalled because of an ambiguity in the Constitution. Scholars and judges generally claim that the Belgian Constitution gives ultimate power to the Nation, which can only speak through representation in parliament. In light of this, direct democracy would be an unconstitutional power grab by the current generation of citizens. This book critically investigates this received interpretation of the Constitution and, by reaching back to the debates among Belgium's 1831 founding fathers, concludes that it is untenable. The spirit, if not the text, of the Belgian Constitution allows for more popular participation than present-day jurisprudence admits. Combining new insights from law, history, and political science, this book is a showcase for continental constitutional theory. The questions it asks reverberate far beyond Belgium. The book provides a rare source of information on Belgium's 1831 Constitution, which was in its time seen as modern constitutionalism's greatest triumph which became a model for countless other constitutions. " All rights reserved http://oapen.org/content/about-rights English Constitution: government & the state bicssc Constitutional & administrative law bicssc Human rights & civil liberties law bicssc Jurisprudence & general issues bicssc Laws of Specific jurisdictions bicssc Legal history bicssc Social & political philosophy bicssc law Deseure, Brecht oth Geenens, Raf edt Geenens, Raf oth Sottiaux, Stefan edt Sottiaux, Stefan oth DOAB Library. https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/63893 0 Free-to-read: DOAB: description of the publication 92765 92765