The Sovereignty of Parliament: History and Philosophy

by Jeffrey Goldsworthy

Overview

In British constitutional law, the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty maintains that Parliament has unlimited legislative authority. Critics have recently challenged this doctrine, on historical and philosophical grounds. This book describes its historical origins and development and identifies the reasons why it was adopted, examines its current legal basis, and responds to the critics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198268932
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	09/23/1999
Pages:	330
Product dimensions:	9.21(w) x 6.14(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Professor Jeffrey Goldsworthy is Associate Professor of Law at Monash University, Australia

Table of Contents

1: Introduction
2: Defining Parliamentary Sovereignty
A. Parliament and Sovereignty Defined
B. Sovereignty and Higher Law
3: From Bracton to the Reformation
A. Medieval Kingship, Law and Politics
B. Parliament and its Authority
C. Parliament as a Law-maker
D. Parliament and the Courts
E. Parliament in Legal Theory
F. Parliament and the Church
4: The Sixteenth Century
A. The Authority of Parliament Extended
B. The Supremacy of Parliament Recognised
C. Two Theories of the Authority of Parliament
D. Royalist Theories
E. Parliamentarian Theories
F. Prelude to the Seventeenth Century
5: From James I to the Restoration
A. Political Theories in Early Stuart England
B. Royalist Theories of the Authority of Parliament
C. Parliamentarian Theories of the Authority of Parliament
D. Common Law Theories of the Authority of Parliament
E. Parliamentary Sovereignty Affirmed
F. The Interregnum
6: From the Restoration to the Revolution
A. Monarchist Ideologies
B. Whig Ideology
7: After the Revolution
A. Whig and Tory Consensus
B. The Union of England and Scotland
C. Legal Sovereignty, Popular Sovereignty, and the Right of Resistance
D. Law-Making Power and Constitutional Principle
E. British Opinion During the American Crisis
F. Judicial Opinion and Legal Theory
G. American Revolutionary Constitutional Theory
H. The Reform Movement in Britain
8: The Nineteenth Century
9: Historical Conclusions
10: The Philosophical Foundations of Parliamentary Sovereignty
A. Parliamentary Sovereignty and Legal Philosophy
B. Law as the Foundation of Law-making Authority
C. The Common Law as the Foundation of Law-making Authority
D. Legal Principles as the Foundation of Law-making Authority
E. The Practice of British Officials
F. Official Consensus as the Foundation of Law-making Authority
G. The Argument From Extreme Cases
H. Further Arguments
I. The Alleged Necessity of Judicially Enforceable Constitutional Rights
Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

"... Goldsworthy provides a brilliant survey of parliamentary sovereignty in England and how the theory and the institution evolved and altered over time. In a masterful recitation of historical legal cases, statutory law, and philosophical theory Goldsworthy provides the case for parliamentary sovereignty from Bracton through Blackstone and the nineteenth century. ... his clean, uncluttered prose knits together the analysis of the cases with contemporary political philosophy to make a most readable text from dense material. He has done a superb job."
—American Journal of Legal History, January 2000

Review(s) from previous edition

"Goldsworthy's use of secondary sources and his scholarship are admirable. The style may be elusive, but it is nonetheless very readable and his arguments in the chapter dedicated to the philosophical foundations of the doctrine are clearly written and accesible."
—THES

From the Publisher