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Hume's Constitutionalism and the Identity of Constitutional Democracy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

Robert A. Manzer
Robert A. Manzer*
Affiliation:
University of Dallas
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Abstract

Modern constitutional democracy entails a particular kind of political self-understanding that uniquely centers on a constitution. While many recent studies have focused on how constitutional text shapes this self-understanding, little attention has been paid to the implications of different views of constitutional authority. This is a critical consideration, however, because constitutional authority has always been intrinsically fragile within constitutional democracy, and never more so than at present. In this article, I explore the potential of constitutional science to generate a conception of constitutional authority and collective identity. I focus on David Hume's effort to use constitutional science to shape opinion about liberty and the nature of the political community. This analysis also provides a basis for reflecting on the problematic relation of democracy to constitutionalism and on the peculiar problem of constitutional opinion in constitutional democracy.

Type
Articles
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 90 , Issue 3 , September 1996 , pp. 488 - 496
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1996

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