14 - Contracting for Catastrophe

Summary

States of emergency are declared frequently in all parts of the world. Their declaration routinely implies a suspension of basic constitutional rights. In the last half century, it has become the norm for constitutions to contain an explicit “emergency constitution,” that is, the constitutionally safeguarded rules of operation for a state of emergency. This chapter asks whether inclusion of an emergency constitution can be legitimized by drawing on social contract theory, arguing that there are important arguments, both against and in favor of constitutionalized emergency provisions, and that social contract theory – as applied by economists – can be of some help when deciding whether to have, or not to have an emergency constitution.