This review examines four books from the series ‘Constitutional Systems of the World’: these books set out the experience of the US, Germany, Russia and South Africa. As introductions to each of these countries’ experience with constitutions, each text is perfectly acceptable; the problems start when we begin to compare the books to each other. Then questions arise about the approaches taken by each individual author, and the overall objective behind the series.
BaumanR.KahanaT. (eds) (2006) The Least Examined Branch: The Role of Legislatures in the Constitutional State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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ChoudhryS. (2002) ‘Globalization in Search of Justification: Toward a Theory of Comparative Constitutional Interpretation’, Indiana Law Journal, 74 (3), 819–92.
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ChoudhryS. (ed.) (2006) The Migration of Constitutional Ideas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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DahlR. (1957) ‘Decision-Making in a Democracy: The Supreme Court as a National Policy-Maker’, Journal of Public Law, 6, 279–95.
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ElkinsZ.GinsburgT.MeltonJ. (2009) The Endurance of National Constitutions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) 381 US 479.
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HendersonJ. (2011) The Constitution of the Russian Federation. Oxford: Hart.
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HeunW. (2011) The Constitution of Germany. Oxford: Hart.
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HirschlR. (2004) Towards Juristocracy: The Origins and Consequences of the New Constitutionalism. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.
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KlugH. (2010) The Constitution of South Africa. Oxford: Hart.
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Marbury v. Madison (1803) 5 US (1 Cranch) 137.
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SunsteinC. (2001) Designing Democracy: What Constitutions Do. New York: Oxford University Press.
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TushnetM. (2009) The Constitution of the United States of America. Oxford: Hart.