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Could Present Laws Legitimately Bind Future Generations? A Normative Analysis of the Jeffersonian Model
[journal article]
Abstract Thomas Jefferson’s famous proposal, whereby a state’s constitution should be re-enacted every 19 years by a majority vote, purports to solve the intergenerational problem caused by perpetual constitutions: namely that laws which were enacted by people who are already dead bind living citizens withou... view more
Thomas Jefferson’s famous proposal, whereby a state’s constitution should be re-enacted every 19 years by a majority vote, purports to solve the intergenerational problem caused by perpetual constitutions: namely that laws which were enacted by people who are already dead bind living citizens without their consent. I argue that the model fails to fulfil its own normative consent-based aspirations. This is because it produces two groups of people who will end up living under laws to which they did not give their consent: (a) citizens who reach the voting age after the re-enactment process; (b) citizens who did not assent to being obliged by the majority vote’s results. I reject possible responses to my argument by showing that they result in making the model either impractical or redundant. The remainder of the paper discusses whether implementing the model would enhance the consent-based legitimacy of the modern state.... view less
Keywords
justice; Intergenerational relations; constitutional law; constitutional amendment; political institution; constitution; institutionalization; legitimacy
Classification
Political System, Constitution, Government
Political Process, Elections, Political Sociology, Political Culture
Document language
English
Publication Year
2016
Page/Pages
p. 48-56
Journal
Intergenerational Justice Review, 2 (2016) 2
Issue topic
Constitutions as Intergenerational Contracts: Flexible or fixed? (I)
DOI
https://doi.org/10.24357/igjr.9.2.548
ISSN
2190-6335
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed
Licence
Creative Commons - Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works