The Possibility of Constitutional Theory
This chapter sets out the main tenets of moralized constitutional theory, which supplies the methodology of the book. According to moralized constitutional theory the purpose of constitutional law is to buttress the legitimacy of a political regime by furnishing standing assurances that government power will be used properly. Although moralized constitutional theory maintains that contentious constitutional law issues are ultimately determined by principles of political morality, it is compatible with both legal positivism and anti-positivism. Moreover, it does not ignore either the history of different legal systems or considerations of political exigency to which constitutions are also sensitive. But it insists that the overarching reason history and political exigency matter is a moral one. Nor does moralized constitutional theory block reform. It is only meant to answer the pressing moral question under what conditions state coercion is warranted here and now.