Description: With nuanced perspective and detailed case studies, Due Process of Lawmaking explores the law of lawmaking in the United States, South Africa, Germany, and the European Union. This comparative work deals broadly with public policymaking in the legislative and executive branches. It frames the inquiry through three principles of legitimacy: democracy, rights, and competence. Drawing on the insights of positive political economy, the authors explicate the ways in which courts uphold these principles in the different systems. Judicial review in the American presidential system suggests lessons for the parliamentary systems in Germany and South Africa, while the experience of parliamentary government yields potential insights into the reform of the American law of lawmaking. Taken together, the national experiences shed light on the special case of the EU. In dialogue with each other, the case studies demonstrate the interplay between constitutional principles and political imperatives under a range of different conditions.
Brief description: James Fowkes obtained a law degree from the University of the Witwatersrand, where he was ranked first in his class, and an LL.M. from Yale Law School, Connecticut as a Fulbright Scholar. He completed his J.S.D. at Yale University under the supervision of Bruce Ackerman and holds a research fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg, Germany. Fowkes clerked at the South African Constitutional Court in 2008 and served as lead author for the International Commission of Jurists' report on domestic remedies for corporate human rights violations in South Africa in 2009. He has published on public and constitutional law topics in the South African Journal on Human Rights, the Constitutional Court Review, and the Cambridge Journal of International and Public Law.
Review Quotes: "By masterfully combining a number of theoretical and analytical approaches, Rose-Ackerman, Egidy and Fowkes illuminate the judicial review of lawmaking and rulemaking in the United States, South Africa, Germany and the European Union and draw comparative lessons for making the process more democratic and accountable in all four jurisdictions. This pathbreaking book will constitute essential reading for scholars of comparative law for many years to come."
Francesca Bignami, George Washington University Law School