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Id 2831
Author Hirschl R.
Title Constitutional Design and the Urban/Rural Divide
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Hirschl R. Constitutional Design and the Urban/Rural Divide,Law and Ethics of Human Rights 16 1

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Link to article https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85134783166&doi=10.1515%2flehr-2022-2002&partnerID=40&md5=f9538e6ffaaedbc8cc3c546331fc139d
Abstract In this article, I consider a curious blind spot in constitutional scholarship concerning the resurging rural/urban divide - a readily evident phenomenon closely associated with political resentment and anti-establishment sentiments - and how we may begin to address that challenge through creative constitutional designs. Specifically, I draw upon insights from comparative constitutionalism to discuss four main areas of constitutional law and theory that appear to hold some intellectual promise in this context: (i) formal constitutional commitment at the national level to recognizing the urban/rural divide and commitment to addressing it; (ii) creative electoral system designs that take into account the spatial dimension of politics; (iii) spatial pluralization based on concepts such as "mixed constitutions,""community standards,"and "margin of appreciation"; and (iv) rethinking elements of equalization and fiscal federalism more generally. Taken together, the four directions I discuss here offer a repertoire of constitutional design possibilities that hold promise in mitigating the resurging rural/urban gulf. More generally, they serve as an invitation to constitutional thinkers to shake up the rather stagnant constitutional thought of spatial governance, and to think creatively about the ever-expanding urban/rural divide and its consequences for the theory and practice of 21st century constitutional democracy. © 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.

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DOI 10.1515/lehr-2022-2002
Search Database Scopus
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