The Historicity of Constitutionalism and Its Normative Principles from the Perspective of Charles Howard McIlwain, with a Focus on the Constitutionalism: Ancient and Modern

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Professor of Public Law, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Shiraz, Shiraz, Iran.

2 Ph.D. Student of Public Law, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Shiraz, Shiraz, Iran.

Abstract

Constitutionalism is a complex subject due to its inherent ambiguity and multiple interpretations, and the crises associated with it in the 1930s highlighted the need for a more precise understanding. This article aims to explore the historical development of constitutionalism from the perspective of Charles Howard McIlwain, a prominent scholar of political science, and to infer the normative principles from his viewpoint. The goal is to provide a correct understanding of the concept of "constitutionalism" and to find a solution for its challenges. Using a descriptive-analytical approach, this research first analyzes the concept of constitutionalism from different perspectives. It then describes the stages of its evolution through McIlwain's work, "Constitutionalism: Ancient and Modern, " and finally, it explains the normative principles extracted from this perspective.The findings show that McIlwain considers constitutionalism to be a historical and evolutionary process that has been shaped by the interactions with social events and historical struggles. By examining this continuous process from ancient Greece and Rome to the modern era, he extracts principles such as the rule of law, the distinction between public and private rights, the central role of judicial review, and the importance of political responsibility. While ancient constitutionalism in Greece faced challenges such as the lack of a solution other than revolution in response to the violation of law, Roman constitutionalism addressed these shortcomings by distinguishing between constitutional and ordinary law and separating public and private rights, thus providing a basis for judicial independence. The key conclusion is that a precise understanding of constitutionalism from McIlwain’s historical perspective and the extraction of its normative principles serve as a valuable tool for analyzing and addressing theoretical debates in the fields of constitutional adjudication and interpretation, and is very beneficial for researchers in this area.

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References

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Journal of Comparative Public Law
Volume 2, Issue 1 - Serial Number 5
March 2025
Pages 129-156

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