| ID | 081360 |
| Title Proper | Articulating the nexus of politics and law |
| Other Title Information | war in Iraq and the practice within two legal systems |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Liste, Philip |
| Publication | 2008. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Does law rule foreign affairs in the democratic state? Basically, one might expect that democratic executives operate on the ground of what is called the Rechtsstaat, and that in a political system with checks and balances operations-especially those eventually dropping out of that ground-are subject to judicial review. However, legal systems are more often than not willing to abstain from a legal governance of its countries' foreign policy-because of "political reasons." Moreover, democracies obviously vary according to their legal operations. At least in the area of foreign affairs, the relationship of democracy and law does not take up a necessary character. Facing this contingency, the article engages in the discursive construction of a politics and law nexus in the course of the operations of two legal systems, in the United States and Germany. For that reason, it will proceed by deconstructing two legal decisions related to the war in Iraq. Building upon the premise that legal practices are intertwined into a larger web of (legal) text, the article argues that the possibility of a judicial abstention in cases bearing reference to foreign policy issues depends on meaning produced in the course of the signification and positioning of discursive elements like "politics" and "law." Thus, speaking law is a politico-legal practice |
| `In' analytical Note | International Political Sociology Vol. 2, No.1; Mar 2008: p38-55 |
| Journal Source | International Political Sociology Vol. 2, No.1; Mar 2008: p38-55 |
| Key Words | Law ; Political Systems ; Governance |