The new fourth branch : institutions for protecting constitutional democracy / Mark Tushnet, Harvard Law School.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tushnet, Mark, 1945- author.

Series:

Comparative constitutional law and policy

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Constitutional law.

Separation of powers.

Independent regulatory commissions.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (ix, 186 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2021.

System Details:

text file

PDF

Summary:

Twenty-first-century constitutions now typically include a new 'fourth branch' of government, a group of institutions charged with protecting constitutional democracy, including electoral management bodies, anticorruption agencies, and ombuds offices. This book offers the first general theory of the fourth branch; in a world where governance is exercised through political parties, we cannot be confident that the traditional three branches are enough to preserve constitutional democracy. The fourth branch institutions can, by concentrating within themselves distinctive forms of expertise, deploy that expertise more effectively than the traditional branches are capable of doing. However, several case studies of anticorruption efforts, electoral management bodies, and audit bureaus show that the fourth branch institutions do not always succeed in protecting constitutional democracy, and indeed sometimes undermine it. The book concludes with some cautionary notes about placing too much hope in these - or, indeed, in any - institutions as the guarantors of constitutional democracy.

Contents:

Introduction

Why a fourth branch - the structural logic

Why a fourth branch - the functional logic

Design issues in general

Design principles in practice - A survey

Anticorruption investigations - Case studies from Brazil and South Africa

Electoral commissions - Case Studies from India, the United States, and South Korea

Audit agencies

Conclusion.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 23 Aug 2021).

Other Format:

Print version:

ISBN:

9781009047609

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.