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The Struggle for Constitutional Power
By
Tamir Moustafa
Description
For nearly three
decades, scholars and policymakers have placed considerable stock in
judicial reform as a panacea for the political and economic turmoil
plaguing developing countries. Courts are charged with spurring
economic development, safeguarding human rights, and even
facilitating transitions to democracy. How realistic are these
expectations, and in what political contexts can judicial reforms
deliver their expected benefits? In this book, Tamir Moustafa
addresses these issues through an examination of the politics of the
Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court, the most important experiment
in consitutionalism in the Arab world. It also examines the dynamics
of legal mobilization in this most unlikely political environment.
Standing at the intersection of political science, economics, and
comparative law, The Struggle for Constitutional Power challenges
conventional wisdom and provides new insights into perennial
questions concerning the barriers to institutional development,
economic growth, and democracy in the developing world.
• Provides
the first book-length study (in English) of the Egyptian Supreme
Constitutional Court, the most important in the Arab world •
Provides an analysis of the barriers to democratization, economic
development, judicial reform in Egypt, and the developing world in
general • Offers the first comprehensive analysis of
constitutional dynamics in non-democratic states
Contents
1. Introduction:
law versus the state; 2. The politics of domination: law and
resistance in authoritarian states; 3. The establishment of the
Supreme Constitutional Court; 4. The emergence of constitutional
power (1979–1990); 5. The rapid expansion of constitutional
power (1991–1997); 6. Executive retrenchment and an uncertain
future (1998–2005); 7. Law, development, and democracy: a
critical appraisal; Appendix A. SCC justices and commissioners;
Appendix B. Constitution of the Arab Republic of Egypt; Appendix C.
Law 49/1979 governing the Supreme Constitutional Court; Appendix D.
Figures on Supreme Constitutional Court rulings; Bibliography.
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