Mind the gap: Analyzing the divergence between constitutional text and constitutional reality

Constitutional Silences and Institutional Integrity

A constitution, like any document, leaves certain things unsaid. In Australia, the duty to interpret constitutional silences falls to the courts. This paper engages with constitutional theory in order to explain what ought to—and does in fact—dwell

Soundings and Silences

In studying existing constitutions or in assisting with drafting a new one, it is impossible not to notice that formative decisions about what to say and what not to say as a constitution is being created bear heavily on later decisions about how to interpret what a constitution says or fails to say, including whether to construe any given silence or gap only as a source of insight or as a kind of performative utterance. Among the features of the United States Constitution that have been crucial to its success has been the widespread recognition of its connected structure that, despite its gaps—some deliberate and others unintended—invites understanding as a coherent, if at times internally inconsistent, whole. Constitutional silences, like silences of other kinds, are everywhere and come in many varieties. There are as many reasons to be silent as there are to speak and as many ways to hear meaning in the sounds of silence as there are to attribute meaning to statements. The first section of this essay distinguishes silences that open a constitutional conversation by leaving options on the table from those that shut conversation down by limiting the options to one. The second section separates silences that bear on the structure created by the Constitution from those that bear on the individual rights the Constitution protects against government infringement. The third section turns to the special case of silences in the Constitution’s rules of interpretation and asks whether the Supreme Court should be silent on a particular constitutional matter or should address it squarely, recognizing that whatever an authoritative interpreter says about what the Constitution itself says or omits can be evaluated only against the background alternative of somehow contriving to remain silent.

The silences of constitutions

Abstract. Glossing a passage from Benjamin Constant’s Reflections on Constitutions, this article first assesses the roles performed by silences, gaps, and

Designing a Constitution for a Community (Camille Canon) : Metagovernance Seminar

This is a talk exploring Apiary's work on the purpose/constitutional design of Radicle. We have been supporting the founders and community in drafting a...

Can Claude Consent to its own Constitution? AI Constitutionalism and the Paradox of Constituent Power

Frontier AI systems are trained on “constitutions” and model specifications that shape their values, reasoning, and conduct. Debate over these documents has foc

Three views on economic power

We investigate the concept of economic power in the three main paradigms of economic thinking in the 20th century: neoclassical, marxist and institutionalist. We propose a reconstruction, based on a new taxonomy, of the various forms of power conceptualized by each of them. In particular, we claim that the neoclassical paradigm contains a consistent although often implicit theory of power. We then show that many controversies between these paradigms were debates on power and that some shifts in mainstream economics in the 1970s and 1980s are a reaction to the criticisms leveled against the neoclassical conceptualization of power.

The challenges of constitutional silence: Doctrine, theory, and applications

Abstract. In this introduction to our symposium on “Constitutional Silence,” we situate the articles in this collection and explore the significance of the

Power: A Primer for Perplexed Economists

Let's Assume an Unfettered Marketplace of Ideas! Or Actually, Let's Not.

The State and Revolution — Chapter 5

The State and Revolution: Chapter 5: The Economic Basis of the Withering Away of the State

PARA Docs

PARA explains its political thesis through democratic friction, policy flairs, RAQ, voting, agents, anonymity, and the technical layer beneath the product.

Claude's new constitution

A new approach to a foundational document that expresses and shapes who Claude is

Time and the Neo-Monarchist Turn

One of the classical arguments against democracy concerns its supposed short-termism. Early-modern political thought contrasted the pitfalls of elected authority, whose timebound character was seen to invite inconstancy, instability and plunder, with the merits of indefinite rule on the model of kingship. Such reasoning has seen two revivals in recent years, first in a neo-liberal form as an argument for technocracy (see independent central banking), second in a neo-reactionary form as an argument for an all-powerful executive or ‘monarch’ (see the contemporary international far Right). This article looks at the structure of these political arguments and the work they do. Having reconstructed their historical background, it charts how the neo-monarchist turn marks a radicalisation in democracy-scepticism, guided by a patrimonial logic of authority as property ownership. The article goes on to examine the political-economic factors to which this responds, as well as the contradictions to which neo-monarchism is prone. As the article concludes, temporal arguments for authoritarian politics may be dubious in substance but merit careful observation in a context of widespread disaffection with existing institutions.

Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?

It is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism. After 1989, capitalism has successfully presented itself as the only realistic political-economic system - a situation that the bank crisis of 2008, far from ending, actually compounded. The book analyses the development and principal features of this capitalist realism as a lived ideological framework. Using examples from politics, film (Children Of Men, Jason Bourne, Supernanny), fiction (Le Guin and Kafka), work and education, it argues that capitalist realism colors all areas of contemporary experience, is anything but realistic and asks how capitalism and its inconsistencies can be challenged. It is a sharp analysis of the post-ideological malaise that suggests that the economics and politics of free market neo-liberalism are givens rather than constructions. New Edition includes:Forward by Zoe Fisher, Mark’s wife, talking about Mark as a personIntroduction by Alex Niven, his friend and colleague, talking about the political significance of the book thirteen years after it was writtenAfterword by Tariq Goddard, the original editor and publisher, describing the writing and editing of the book, its original reception, and Mark’s own view of it"A quick and entertaining read." Socialist Standard "A provocative and necessary read...for anyone wanting to talk seriously about the politics of education today. " Times Higher Educational Supplement

Thoughts on narratives and the role of AI and validators going forward

I wanted to quickly share some reflections and connect some dots around ongoing work with Prashant on causal claims and language in Economics. We have extended

Institute for New Economic Thinking

Further your understanding of the economy and find an open environment for generating and discussing economic thought.

annotations: Les économistes orthodoxes sont incapables d’expliquer les inégalités domestiques et la compétition entre les nations

Blog de sciences économiques et sociales de Martin Anota. Traductions, revues de presse.