Constitutionalism: Past, Present, and Future will offer a definitive collection of Professor Dieter Grimm's most important scholarly writings on constitutional thought and interpretation. The essays included in this volume explore the conditions under which the modern constitution could emerge; they treat the characteristics that must be given if the constitution may be called an achievement, the appropriate way to understand and interpret constitutional law under current conditions, the function of judicial review, the remaining role of national constitutions in a changing world, as well as the possibility of supra-national constitutionalism.Many of these essays have influenced the German and European discussion on constitutionalism and for the first time, much of the work of one of German's leading scholars of public law will be available in the English language.

Dieter Grimm is one of the foremost scholars of constitutional law, constitutional theory, and European law in Germany and worldwide. His jurisprudential writings have found a large English-language audience in works such as Constitutionalism: Past, Present, and Future and The Constitution of European Democracy. This book is a conversation between Grimm and three scholars of constitutional law - Oliver Lepsius, Christian Waldhoff, and Matthias Rossbach - on his background, his childhood under the Nazi regime and the ruins of post-war Germany, his education in Germany, France, and the United States, his academic achievements, the main subjects of his research, his experience as a judge on a leading constitutional court (especially in the time of pivotal changes in the world after the fall of the Berlin Wall), and his views on actual challenges for law and society. Grimm also speaks about his attitude toward European integration where he is best known for his thesis that one of the biggest but least noticed causes for the lack of democratic legitimacy of the EU is its 'over-constitutionalization'. The book is an invaluable source of information on an outstanding career and the functioning of constitutional adjudication that the reader would not find in legal textbooks or treatises. The Times Literary Supplement, reviewing the German edition, stated: "For anyone wishing to understand the respect for the rule of law in modern Germany, this book is highly recommended."

Europe is in crisis. With rising unrest among citizens of EU member states exemplified by the UK's decision to leave the EU, and the growing popularity of anti-EU political parties, Dieter Grimm presents the argument that Europe has to change its method of further integration or risks failure. This book, containing essays many of which have not been published in the English language to date, explores how the EU has become over-constitutionalized. Grimm argues that this has left the EU with a democratic deficit leading to the alienation of citizens. This book highlights Europe's democracy problem. The most prominent argument running throughout is that the EU and its decision-making processes have become over-constitutionalized. This is due to the constitutionalization of European treaties, which has occurred by raising them to the eminence of a constitution as a result of the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice. However, the treaties contain provisions that would be ordinary law in member states. The fact that they enjoy constitutional status in Europe detaches them from the democratic processes in the member states and the EU itself, and contributes to the growing independence of the EU's executive and judicial institutions. The book also asserts that currently the EU does not have enough sources of legitimation to uphold itself, surviving solely on the legitimation provided by member states. One popular remedy is the suggestion of 'parliamentarization' of the EU, giving the European Parliament the powers typically possessed by national parliaments as a means of heightening its legitimation. This is criticized by Grimm as expanding the Parliament's powers would not change the effects of over-constiutionalization as the Parliament is inferior to the constitution. In order to reduce the EU's legitimacy deficit, Grimm makes several recommendations. The repoliticization of the decision-making processes, which can be achieved by reducing treaties to the capacity necessary for their constitutional function; the reinvigoration of European Parliament elections, by having 'Europeanized' parties to increase engagement with European society and give voters the opportunity to more immediately influence European politics; and a new division of powers based on subject matter to restrain European expansionism, reserving particular areas of policy to the responsibility of member states even if this affects the common market.

Dieter Grimm's accessible introduction to the concept of sovereignty ties the evolution of the idea to historical events, from the religious conflicts of sixteenth-century Europe to today's trends in globalization and transnational institutions. Grimm wonders whether recent political changes have undermined notions of national sovereignty, comparing manifestations of the concept in different parts of the world. Geared for classroom use, the study maps various notions of sovereignty in relation to the people, the nation, the state, and the federation, distinguishing between internal and external types of sovereignty. Grimm's book will appeal to political theorists and cultural-studies scholars and to readers interested in the role of charisma, power, originality, and individuality in political rule.

This collection of essays from Dieter Grimm, Germany's most renowned constitutional scholar, shines a light on the jurisprudence of the German Constitutional Court and constitutional adjudication in general. Established in 1951, the court has become a blueprint for new courts ever since and its jurisprudence, particularly in the field of fundamental rights, has influenced the decisions of judges throughout the world. After the seismic constitutional changes of the years 1989–90 in Germany and beyond, many countries adopted new democratic constitutions and established constitutional courts in order to make their constitutions effective. Today, many of these courts are under attack both politically and intellectually. In this book, Grimm considers some of the fundamental questions under academic scrutiny today: are constitutional courts political or legal institutions? Is judicial review a political or a legal activity? Is it a threat to, or a condition, of democracy? Should these courts be abolished or strengthened? Is a rational interpretation of constitutional law possible? The essays provide answers to these questions and describe how constitutional courts work if they properly fulfill their function of enforcing the constitution. A special emphasis is put on the importance of constitutional interpretation: something, the author argues, that most critics of constitutional adjudication neglect.

A EDITORA CONTRACORRENTE tem a satisfação de anunciar a publicação do livro JURISDIÇÃO CONSTITUCIONAL E DEMOCRACIA: ENSAIOS ESCOLHIDOS, de Dieter Grimm. A obra é o primeiro volume da Coleção "CONSTITUCIONALISMO CONTEMPORÂNEO", uma parceria entre o Instituto Brasileiro de Ensino, Desenvolvimento e Pesquisa (IDP) e a Editora Contracorrente, coordenada pelos eminentes juristas Gilmar Ferreira Mendes e Gorges Abboud. Em cinco artigos, Dieter Grimm discute o controle de constitucionalidade das leis e dos atos normativos em um contexto contemporâneo de ataque ao Estado Constitucional, disseminação do populismo e desinformação, discursos sectários de radicalização e comportamento autoritário, entre outros fatores. Uma narrativa que coloca o Poder Judiciário como um entrave para expressão da vontade popular, cenário que pode levar ao aparelhamento ideológico do judiciário e ao consequente autoritarismo. Para o autor, a supremacia da Constituição deve ser observada por todos os poderes políticos, inclusive o legislativo, problematizado no primeiro artigo coletânea sob o título "O que é político na jurisdição constitucional?"; O segundo estudo "Direito ou Política? A controvérsia Kelsen-Schmitt sobre a jurisdição constitucional e a sua situação atual" versa sobre a separação analítica entre objeto, efeito e modo de proceder. O terceiro ensaio "Constituição, jurisdição constitucional, interpretação constitucional: na interface de Direito e Política", Grimm defende a independência do processo de aplicação do Direito, inclusive do Direito Constitucional, articulando essa autonomia com o plexo institucional do Estado e as garantias que os magistrados precisam ter, mesmo em democracias onde inexistem o Tribunal Constitucional. "Nem contradição, nem condição: controle de constitucionalidade e democracia", quarto artigo da coletânea, o professor ressalta os perigos em se abolir o controle de constitucionalidade e questiona as vantagens dessa decisão. Logo a seguir, no derradeiro capítulo, o autor faz uma "Nova crítica radical à jurisdição constitucional", onde compara a legitimação e regulamentação do poder político das Constituições há 30 anos, com o autoritarismo populista que atualmente questiona essa garantia jurisdicional das cartas magnas. Para os organizadores, "num momento em que o constitucionalismo se vê desafiado por um influxo antidemocrático globalmente estruturado, o melhor a se fazer é fomentar um diálogo teórico produtivo entre diferentes sistemas e perspectivas constitucionais".