Constitutional Law in a Nutshell

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS 5
LIST OF TABLES 13
ABOUT THE AUTHOR 15
ABOUT THE BOOK & ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 17
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK 21
CHAPTER 1: CONSTITUTION AND CONSTITUTIONALISM
INTRODUCTION 27
1. MEANING OF CONSTITUTION 28
1.1. Definition of Constitutions 28
1.2. Content of Constitutions 29
1.2.1. Preliminary Chapter (or Preamble) 29
1.2.2. General Principles Chapter 32
1.2.3. Institutions of the State Chapter 35
1.2.4. Fundamental Rights and Freedoms Chapter 41
1.2.5. Amendment Procedure Chapter 45
1.3. Functions of Constitutions 57
1.4. Essentials of Good Constitutions 58
2. CLASSIFICATION OF CONSTITUTIONS 59
2.1. Written and Written Constitutions 61
2.1.1. Merits and Demerits of Written Constitutions 62
2.1.2. Merits and Demerits of Unwritten Constitutions 63
2.2. Soft and Rigid Constitutions 64
2.2.1. Merits and Demerits of Soft Constitutions 66
2.2.2. Merits and Demerits of Rigid Constitutions 67
2.3. Frame and Regular Constitutions 68
3. CONSTITUTIONALISM 68
3.1. History of Constitutionalism 69
3.2. Constitutional History of Turkey 73
SELF-TEST QUESTIONS 76
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS 77
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY/FURTHER READING 77

CHAPTER 2: CONSTITUENT AND CONSTITUTED POWER
INTRODUCTION 81
1. CONSTITUENT POWER 82
1.1. The term of Constituent 82
1.1.1. Sieyès 83
1.1.2. Schmitt 84
2. CONSTITUTED (AMENDING) POWER 85
2.1. The term of Constituent 86
2.1.1. Sieyès 86
2.1.2. Friedrich 87
3. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT PROCEDURES 88
3.1. Initiative 88
3.2. Parliamentary Procedures 90
3.3. Referendums 91
SELF-TEST QUESTIONS 94
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS 95
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY/FURTHER READING 95
CHAPTER 3: INTERPRETATION OF CONSTITUTIONS
INTRODUCTION 99
1. METHODS OF INTERPRETATION 100
1.1. Textualism 101
1.2. Original Intent and Meaning 102
1.3. Judicial Precedent 104
1.4. Pragmatism 105
1.5. Moral Reasoning 106
1.6. Structuralism 106
2. METHODS OF REASONING 110
2.1. Syllogism 110
2.2. Argumentum a Contrario 111
2.3. Analogy 111
SELF-TEST QUESTIONS 114
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS 115
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY/FURTHER READING 115

CHAPTER 4: CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW
INTRODUCTION 119
1. AMERICAN MODEL 122
2. EUROPEAN MODEL 125
3. WAYS OF REVIEW 128
3.1. Abstract Review of Law 129
3.2. Concrete Review of Law 130
3.3. A Priori Review 131
3.4. A Posteriori Review 131
3.5. Constitutional Complaint 131
4. CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW IN FRANCE, GERMANY AND THE UK 134
4.1. France 135
4.2. Germany 135
4.3. United Kingdom 137
SELF-TEST QUESTIONS 138
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS 139
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY/FURTHER READING 139
CHAPTER 5: THE STATE
INTRODUCTION 143
1. THE ELEMENTS OF THE STATE 144
1.1. Territory 146
1.2. Population 153
1.3. Sovereignty 153
1.3.1. Internal & External Sovereignty 155
1.3.2. Real & Nominal Sovereignty 156
1.3.3. Legal & Political & Popular Sovereignty 156
1.3.4. De Jure & De Facto Sovereignty 157
2. THE THEORIES OF THE STATE 157
2.1. Voluntaristic Theories 158
2.2. Social Contract Theories 158
2.3. Coercive Theory 159
2.4. Environmental Circumscription 161
2.5. Political Evolution 161
SELF-TEST QUESTIONS 163
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS 164
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY/FURTHER READING 164

CHAPTER 6: TYPES OF THE STATE
INTRODUCTION 169
1. MONARCHY AND REPUBLICS 169
1.1. Definition of Monarchy 170
1.2. Types of Monarchies 170
1.2.1. Absolute Monarchies 170
1.2.2. Constitutional Monarchies 171
1.2.3. Hereditary Monarchies 172
1.2.4. Elective Monarchies 174
1.3. Definition of Republic 174
1.4. Types of Republics 175
2. UNITARY STATES AND UNIONS OF THE STATE 175
2.1. Unitary State 176
2.2. Unions of the States 177
2.2.1. Personal union 178
2.2.2. Real union 178
2.2.3. Confederation 179
2.2.4. Federalism 180
SELF-TEST QUESTIONS 192
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS 193
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY/FURTHER READING 193
CHAPTER 7: GOVERNMENTAL SYSTEMS
INTRODUCTION 197
1. UNION OF POWERS 198
1.1. Absolute Monarchy 198
1.2. Dictatorship 199
1.3. Assembly Government 200
2. SEPARATION OF POWERS 201
2.1. Parliamentary System 204
2.1.1. Features of Parliamentary System 205
2.1.2. Merits of Parliamentary System 207
2.1.3. Demerits of Parliamentary System 208
2.2. Presidential System 209
2.2.1. Features of Presidential System 212
2.2.2. Merits of Presidential System 212
2.2.3. Demerits of Presidential System 214
2.3. Semi-Presidential System 215

3. GOVERNMENTAL SYSTEM OF TURKEY 219
3.1. Features of Turkish Presidential System 220
3.1.1. The Role of the President 220
3.1.2. The Election of the President 220
3.1.3. The Duties and Powers of the President 221
3.1.4. The Criminal Liability of the President 223
3.1.5. The Relationship between the President and Parliament 224
SELF-TEST QUESTIONS 225
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS 226
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY/FURTHER READING 226
CHAPTER 8: LEGISLATURE
INTRODUCTION 231
1. THE ROLE OF LEGISLATURE 233
1.1. Legislature as Agent: Linkage, Representation and Legitimation 233
1.2. Legislature as Principal: Control and Oversight 234
1.2.1. Ways of Parliamentary Scrutiny in Turkey 235
1.2.2. Parliamentary Checking the Work of Government in the UK 241
1.2.3. Legislature as Legislator: Policy-making vs. Policy-influencing 248
2. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES OF LEGISLATURE 248
2.1. Numbers and Type of Chambers 249
2.2. Numbers, Quality and Consistency of Members 251
3. LAW MAKING PROCESS 253
3.1. Law Making Process in Turkey 253
3.1.1. Basic Concepts 253
3.1.2. The Right to Introduce Bills: 254
3.1.3. Deliberations in the Committees 255
3.1.4. Deliberations in the Plenary 258
3.1.5. Publication of Laws 261
3.2. Law Making Process in England 262
3.2.1. Basic Concepts 263
3.2.2. The Right to Introduce Bills 265
3.2.3. Law making Process for Public Bills 266
3.2.3.1. Pre-Legislative Scrutiny 266
3.2.3.2. Legislative Scrutiny 267
3.2.3.3. Post-Legislative Scrutiny 270

3.2.4. Law Making Process for Private Bills 270
SELF-TEST QUESTIONS 273
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS 274
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY/FURTHER READING 274
CHAPTER 9: DEMOCRACY
INTRODUCTION 279
1. THE CONCEPT OF DEMOCRACY 279
2. THE CONCEPT OF DEMOCRACY 281
3. TYPES OF DEMOCRACY 283
3.1. Direct Democracy 283
3.2. Indirect (Representative) Democracy 285
3.3. Semi-Democracy 287
3.3.1. Initiative 288
3.3.2. Referendum 292
3.3.3. Recall 292
3.4. Majoritarian-Pluralist Democracy 301
4. ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST DEMOCRACY 303
SELF-TEST QUESTIONS 307
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS 308
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY/FURTHER READING 308
CHAPTER 10: POLITICAL PARTIES
INTRODUCTION 313
1. THE CONCEPT OF POLITICAL PARTY 313
1.1. Definition of Political Party 314
1.2. Functions of Political Parties 316
1.2.1. Coordination 316
1.2.2. Contesting Elections 317
1.2.3. Recruitment 320
1.2.4. Representation 320
2. CHARACTERISTICS OF POLITICAL PARTY 320
2.1. Ideology 320
2.2. Political Manifesto 321
2.3. Organizational Structure 322
2.4. Constitution (Regulation) 325
2.5. Institutionalization 325

2.6. Membership 326
2.7. Finance 328
3. PARTY SYSTEMS 331
3.1. Non-Party System 333
3.2. Single Party System 333
3.3. Two-Party System 334
3.4. Dominant Party System 334
3.5. Multi-Party System 335
SELF-TEST QUESTIONS 337
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS 338
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY/FURTHER READING 338
CHAPTER 11: ELECTIONS
INTRODUCTION 343
1. RIGHT TO SUFFRAGE 346
2. PRINCIPLES OF SUFFRAGE 349
2.1. From limited franchise to universal suffrage 349
2.2. From inequality in elections to equal suffrage 351
2.3. From non-free elections to free suffrage 351
2.4. From indirect elections to direct vote 352
2.5. From open voting to secret ballot in the elections 352
3. ELECTORAL SYSTEMS 353
3.1. Majoritarian Formulas 355
3.1.1. Single-Member Plurality (SMP)-First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) 355
3.1.2. Second Ballot Majority-Run-Off-System-Two Round System (2RS) 358
3.1.3. Second Ballot Majority-The Alternative Vote System 359
3.2. Semi-Proportional Systems 362
3.2.1. Single Transferable Vote (STV) 362
3.2.2. Cumulative Vote 366
3.2.3. Limited Vote 367
3.3. Proportional Representation (Party List Systems) 367
3.3.1. Open List 368
3.3.2. Closed List 368
3.3.3. Semi-Closed List 369
3.3.4. Quotas and Divisors 369
3.4. Mixed Systems 371
3.4.1. Mixed-Member Proportional (MMP) 371
3.4.2. Mixed-Member Majoritarian (MMM) 372

4. ELECTION ADMINISTRATION 374
4.1. Election Management Bodies 374
4.1.1. Election Management Bodies in Turkey 378
4.2. Pre-electoral Administration 380
4.3. Voting Period 380
4.4. Post-Election Period 380
SELF-TEST QUESTIONS 382
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS 383
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY/FURTHER READING 383
CHAPTER 12: HUMAN RIGHTS
INTRODUCTION 387
1. THE ORIGINS OF HUMAN RIGHTS 388
1.1. Religious Origin of Human Rights 388
1.2. Philosophical Origins of Human Rights 391
1.3. Metaphilosophical Justifications of Human Rights 400
2. CHARACTERISTICS AND CLASSIFICATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS 403
3. INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW 406
3.1. United Nations 408
3.1.1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights 409
3.1.2. Treaty-Based Human Rights Protection Mechanisms 410
3.1.3. Non-Treaty-Based Human Rights Protection Mechanisms 417
3.2. Europe 418
3.2.1. European Convention on Human Rights 419
3.2.2. European Court of Human Rights 419
SELF-TEST QUESTIONS 421
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS 422
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY/FURTHER READING 422
ANNEX 1: GLOSSARY 423
ANNEX 2: A SELECTION OF WEBSITES OF CONSTITUTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE 431

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: List of the Rights and Liberties of Man and Citizen in the Russian
Constitution 41
Table 2: List of the Fundamental Rights and Duties in the Turkish Constitution 43
Table 3: Constitutional Amendment Process in the USA in accordance with
Article V 46
Table 4: List of the Amendments of US Constitution 47
Table 5: Constitutional Amendment Process in Russia in accordance with
Article 135-7 50
Table 6: Constitutional Amendment Process in Turkey in accordance with
Article 175 52
Table 7: List of the Amendments of Turkish Constitution of 1982 53
Table 8: Aristotelian Classification of Constitutions (Regimes) 60
Table 9: Constitutionalism in the World 70
Table 10: Differences between Constituent and Constituted Power 87
Table 11: Methods of Constitutional Interpretation 108
Table 12: List of Countries adopting American Model of Constitutional Review 124
Table 13: Features of American and European Model of Constitutional Review 128
Table 14: Key Characteristics of Court Systems 133
Table 15: A normative debate: is rights review democratic? 134
Table 16: The Shifting Borders of Modern States: Not Recognized, Limited
Recognized and Majority Recognition States 145
Table 17: The Variety of Federal Political Systems 183
Table 18: Federal States in the World and in the EU (Bold) 189
Table 19: Differences between Unitary and Federal States 191
Table 20: Differences between Confederation and Federal States 191
Table 21: Samples of Assembly Government 201
Table 22: Separate Election in the United States 211
Table 23: The Three Major Forms of Democratic Government: Main Features 218
Table 24: Controversies among Presidential, Parliamentary and Semi-
Presidential Governments 219
Table 25: Definition of Legislature, Parliament, Assembly and Congress 231

Table 26: Parliament and Congress Type Legislatures 232
Table 27: Representation and Role/Asymmetry of Upper Chamber 250
Table 28: Population and Size of Lower Chambers 252
Table 29: Huntington’s Three Waves of Democratization 282
Table 30: Advantages and Disadvantages of Direct Democracy 285
Table 31: Advantages and Disadvantages of Indirect Democracy 287
Table 32: Countries which have provision for initiative procedures at the
national level, region 291
Table 33: Examples of Semi-Direct Democracy Devices 297
Table 34: Majoritarian and Consensus Models of Democracy 303
Table 35: Freedom House Checklist for Political Rights and Civil Liberties 304
Table 36: Definitions of Party 314
Table 37: Ideologies at Glance 321
Table 38: Establishment Dates and Numbers of Members of Political Parties in
Turkey as of 04.02.2020 327
Table 39: Public funding of political parties 330
Table 40: Models of Political Parties 332
Table 41: Turnout in the European Union by country and year, in percentage
points 344
Table 42: Voter Turnout in Recent Elections in Turkey 345
Table 43: Determinants of election turnout 345
Table 44: Should voting be compulsory? 348
Table 45: Voting Rights for Men and Women 350
Table 46: Simulation for the allocation of eight seats, with three parties 371
Table 47: Electoral Systems: Legislatures 373
Table 48: Characteristics of the Three Broad Models of Electoral Management
and their Component EMBs 377
Table 49: Human Rights Advocates in Major Religions 390
Table 50: Secular Human Rights Advocates 399
Table 51: Human Rights Justifications 403
Table 52: Regional Human Rights Protection Mechanisms 419