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From Constitutionalism to Legalism: Trial by Jury, Responsible Government, and the Rule of Law in the Canadian Political Culture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 October 2011

Extract

The influence on the Canadian political culture of two conflicting tendencies in common-law constitutional thought, constitutionalism and legalism, merits attention. By constitutionalism, I mean a particular response to the apprehended infringement of civil rights and liberties by the state: an appeal to standards of state conduct that are supposedly sanctified by long usage, implied contract, or both. By legalism, I mean the justification of alleged infringements by invoking the lawfulness of the authority by which such actions are taken. These definitions deviate from common usage, but they serve to represent a dichotomy within common-law constitutional thought that has been crucial to the development of the English political culture and of cultures derived from the English.

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Articles
Copyright
Copyright © the American Society for Legal History, Inc. 1989

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