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The curious case of socio-economic rights (preventing the rational? socio-economic rights and the phenomenon of blaming the victim, Irish style)
Author(s)
Date Issued
2009
Date Available
2010-08-17T16:24:44Z
Abstract
This paper examines the influence of political culture upon constitutional reasoning and deliberation, specifically with regard to answering the question : why have socioeconomic rights not received a more effective protection in the Irish Constitution? Beyond the flotsam and jetsam of crusades and campaigns, I suggest, the politics of the Irish Constitution were and remain, intellectual, moral and ontological. What follows therefore represents a considered defence of this position, primarily with a view to demonstrating the need for a politico-sociological examination of the constitution's development. Drawing on the classic account of constitutional change, namely Basil Chubb's The Politics of the Irish Constitution (1991), I question the
conventionally static depiction of the constitution's relationship to social justice concerns. Subsequently, I present an alternative way of approaching this relationship provided by Steven Lukes and HLA Hart, an approach that calls our attention to the underlying battle of ideas concerning justice, morality and the source of human rights. Finally, in light of this approach, I re-evaluate just one of the contributions to the debate on constitutional reform, namely Vincent Grogan's 'The Constitution and the Natural Law'. In demonstrating the implicit assumptions of Grogan's thesis, this
paper aims to make clear the potential of this ideational perspective for opening
conventional analysis to significant reconsideration.
Sponsorship
Not applicable
Type of Material
Working Paper
Publisher
University College Dublin. Institute for British-Irish Studies
Series
IBIS Working Papers
94
Copyright (Published Version)
The author, 2009
Subject – LCSH
Political culture--Ireland
Constitutional law--Ireland
Ireland--Economic conditions
Ireland--Social conditions
Language
English
Status of Item
Peer reviewed
Conference Details
An early draft of this paper was presented at the conference “Politics, Economy and
Society: Irish Developmentalism, 1958-2008”, Institute for British-Irish Studies, University
College Dublin, 12 March 2009. Subsequent presentations include those made to the International Society of Political
Psychology (Trinity College Dublin, 17 July 2009) and the European Consortium
on Political Research (University of Potsdam, 12 September 2009).
ISSN
1649-0304
This item is made available under a Creative Commons License
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