Constitutions As Social Institutions (WG Sociology of Constitutions)

Constitutions, which should be of crucial relevance for the establishment of the rule of law and for the framing of the political system, do not operate only through their formal text. They become effective when people and institutions treat constitutional norms as legitimate standards for action and as constraints on political power. This session asks how that authority is produced in social practice, a question which makes particular sense in turbulent times. It is concerned with the conditions under which constitutional norms are taken seriously, with the processes through which their meaning becomes settled for a time, and with the situations in which their authority is challenged. The session welcomes papers on constitutions and constitutionalism from a socio-legal perspective. One paper might study how a constitutional court gains or loses public authority. Another might examine how constitutional language shapes political conflict outside the courtroom. Others may consider how constitutional norms travel across borders, or how they are transformed when legal institutions confront social change. The aim is to bring together research that treats constitutions not only as legal instruments, but as institutions whose force depends on whether they are recognized and used as legitimate in social practice.