A Preliminary Study on Global Constitutionalism

Abstract

Since the late twentieth century, with the end of the Cold War and the acceleration of globalization, discussions on “Global Constitutionalism”, an expanded understanding of modern constitutionalism, have emerged. Proponents of Global Constitutionalism argue that the specific principles of modern constitutionalism, such as guaranteeing human rights, separation of powers, the rule of law, democracy, and judicial review in the transnational human rights regime, can have global implications. Various criticisms have been raised against this argument based on the notions of the homogenous nation state, legal positivism, legal pluralism, etc. If, however, it is possible to establish constitutionalism grounded in constitutional pluralism, while responding to temporal and spatial particularities, the discussion on Global Constitutionalism should be valid and useful in explaining the changes in the field of international-transnational law in the twenty-first century. Further theoretical and practical groundwork is needed to realize the contents of Global Constitutionalism, but it is difficult to regard Global Constitutionalism as a completely unrealistic concept.