Constitutions Compared

The sixth edition of this widely utilized handbook provides a userfriendly and original and innovative introduction to comparative constitutional law. For each area of constitutional law, a general introduction and a comparative overview is provided, which is then followed by more detailed country chapters on that specific area. In this sixth edition, the author has expanded several chapters to provide for even more detail on national legal systems, providing examples from constitutional practice, and offering constitutional comparison. Naturally the book has been updated to include constitutional events until May 2021.

This book most notably includes many constitutional developments in the constitutional systems within our scope. Including the `Brexit’ and the new compositions of the national parliaments and the European Parliament. What also sets this book apart is that the EU has been woven into it, as a constitutional system per se and as an international organization which heavily impacts upon domestic constitutional law of its member-states.

This handbook is strong in building the relevant constitutional concepts and the constitutional structures, as well as illustrating them with examples and constitutional and political practice. It also provides readers in general and students of constitutional law with tools and basic questions to address constitutional issues and to evaluate the different constitutional models and features.

Constitutions Compared has proven its success as a helpful guide for students who are for the first time exploring comparative constitutional law, and for more advanced graduate-level courses it provides a solid foundation. It remains a thorough introduction which purports to give an overview, with many examples and applications in practice, with enough legal and practical details to be accessible and to the point, whilst at the same time providing the whole picture and highlighting general constitutional questions and perspectives.