IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/pubcho/v195y2023i3d10.1007_s11127-021-00888-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The logical foundations of constitutional democracy between legal positivism and natural law theory

Author

Listed:
  • Hartmut Kliemt

    (University of Giessen)

Abstract

Rejecting all knowledge claims concerning right and wrong in matters practical James Buchanan concurred with legal positivism that invalid law cannot be identified by its substantive content but only by an inherited defect in its factual creation. Beyond correct creation Buchanan proposed as a quasi-natural law constraint that unanimity in the shadow of individual veto power must at least be conceivable if a norm is to be law. The emerging hybrid conception of constitutional law is symptomatic for Buchanan’s never-ending but ultimately futile efforts to incorporate Kantian ideals of interpersonal respect into constitutional economics without imposing them as personal values.

Suggested Citation

  • Hartmut Kliemt, 2023. "The logical foundations of constitutional democracy between legal positivism and natural law theory," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 195(3), pages 269-281, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:195:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s11127-021-00888-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s11127-021-00888-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11127-021-00888-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11127-021-00888-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Niclas Berggren, 2016. "Does belief in objective morality lead to coercion? An analysis of the arguments of Kelsen and Buchanan," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 29(3), pages 315-326, September.
    2. James A. Dorn, 1987. "Introduction: Government, the Economy, and the Constitution," Cato Journal, Cato Journal, Cato Institute, vol. 7(2), pages 283-303, Fall.
    3. Kliemt, Hartmut, 2011. "Bukantianism—Buchanan's philosophical economics," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 275-279.
    4. Daniele Bertolini, 2019. "Constitutionalizing Leviathan: A Critique of Buchanan’s Conception of Lawmaking," Homo Oeconomicus: Journal of Behavioral and Institutional Economics, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 41-69, October.
    5. Kliemt, Hartmut, 1994. "The Calculus of Consent after Thirty Years," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 79(3-4), pages 341-353, June.
    6. Alan Hamlin & Zofia Stemplowska, 2012. "Theory, Ideal Theory and the Theory of Ideals," Political Studies Review, Political Studies Association, vol. 10(1), pages 48-62, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lars P. Feld & Daniel Nientiedt, 2023. "The Freiburg School and the Virginia School: introduction to the special issue," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 195(3), pages 193-196, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mingyu Liu, 2024. "Structural and functional analysis of Buchanan’s constitutional contract," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-8, December.
    2. Ai-Thu Dang, 2015. "Eyes wide shut: John Rawls's silence on racial justice," Post-Print halshs-01163932, HAL.
    3. Niclas Berggren & Jerg Gutmann, 2020. "Securing personal freedom through institutions: the role of electoral democracy and judicial independence," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 165-186, April.
    4. David Wiens, 2016. "Assessing ideal theories," Politics, Philosophy & Economics, , vol. 15(2), pages 132-149, May.
    5. Werner Gueth & Hartmut Kliemt, 2013. "Fairness That Money Can Buy. Procedural Egalitarianism in Practice," Rationality, Markets and Morals, Frankfurt School Verlag, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, vol. 4(65), May.
    6. Werner Güth & Hartmut Kliemt, 2011. "Procedurally Fair Provision of Public Projects An axiomatic characterization," Jena Economics Research Papers 2011-016, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    7. Vanberg, Georg, 2011. "Substance vs. procedure: Constitutional enforcement and constitutional choice," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 309-318.
    8. Michael C. Munger, 2018. "30 years after the nobel: James Buchanan’s political philosophy," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 31(2), pages 151-167, June.
    9. Ai-Thu Dang, 2015. "Eyes wide shut: John Rawls's silence on racial justice," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 15030, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    10. Contractor, Farok J. & Dangol, Ramesh & Nuruzzaman, N. & Raghunath, S., 2020. "How do country regulations and business environment impact foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(2).
    11. Ai-Thu Dang, 2015. "Eyes wide shut: John Rawls's silence on racial justice," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-01163932, HAL.
    12. Giampaolo Garzarelli & Lyndal Keeton & Aldo A. Sitoe, 2022. "Rights redistribution and COVID-19 lockdown policy," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 54(1), pages 5-36, August.
    13. Boettke Peter J. & King M. Scott, 2018. "Democracy by Discussion, Not Debate: James Buchanan on Freedom of Inquiry as a Methodological, not Ideological, Necessity," ORDO. Jahrbuch für die Ordnung von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, De Gruyter, vol. 69(1), pages 51-62, July.
    14. Güth, Werner & Kliemt, Hartmut, 2010. "What ethics can learn from experimental economics -- If anything," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 302-310, September.
    15. Zane Spindler & Xavier De Vanssay, 2003. "Constitutional Design for a Rent Seeking Society: The Voting Rule Choice Revisited," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 95-105, June.
    16. Gustavo Nunes Mourão & Eduardo Angeli, 2022. "A classification of the methodology of James M. Buchanan from a multidisciplinary perspective," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 33(4), pages 413-432, December.
    17. Garzarelli, Giampaolo, 2018. "Internal Organization in a Public Theory of the Firm: Toward a Coase-Oates Federalism Nexus," MPRA Paper 86955, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Federica Alberti & Werner Güth & Hartmut Kliemt & Kei Tsutsui, 2020. "Implementing stakeholder participation as “egalitarian bidding” – The test of the Kantian pudding is in the institutionalized eating," Working Papers in Economics & Finance 2020-09, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth Business School, Economics and Finance Subject Group.
    19. Hartmut Kliemt, 2012. "The consents of The Calculus," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 152(3), pages 439-443, September.
    20. John Thrasher, 2019. "Democracy Unchained: Contractualism, Individualism, and Independence in Buchanan’s Democratic Theory," Homo Oeconomicus: Journal of Behavioral and Institutional Economics, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 25-40, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:195:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s11127-021-00888-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.