Constitutional Culture: the Lessons of History and the Challenges of Time

INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EDITION ......................... 9
INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND EDITION ..................... 13

CHAPTER 1. EPISTOMOLOGICAL NATURE
AND SUBSTANCE OF THE NOTION
“CONSTITUTIONAL CULTURE” ....................... 20
1.1. Legal and philosophical perceptions
of the notion “constitutional culture”............. 20
1.2. From Constitution to constitutionalism:
the dialectics of the desired and reality ........ 41

CHAPTER 2. HISTORICAL ROOTS OF FORMATION
OF CONSTITUTIONAL CULTURE
IN THE ARMENIAN REALITY
OF THE CHRISTIAN PERIOD ............................ 57
2.1. The legal and political significance
of the proclamation of Christianity
as a state religion in Armenia ....................... 57
2.2. The constitutional role and significance
of national ecclesiastical councils ................. 65
2.3. Legal charachteristics of canonical
constitutions .................................................. 70
2.4. Typical features of constitutional culture
in the pages of the Armenian
legal-political thought ................................... 86

CHAPTER 3. CONSTITUTIONAL CULTURE
IN THE BACKGROUND FOR THE FORMATION
OF RULE-OF-LAW, DEMOCRATIC STATE
AND ESTABLISHMENT
OF CONSTITUTIONALISM ............................... 114
3.1. Constitutional culture in the system
of the contemporary European
legal thought ................................................. 114
3.2 Manifestation of the nature and specifics
of constitutional culture in the conditions
of the Armenian new reality .......................... 129
3.3. Contemporary perceptions of pivotal
values of the Constitution of the
rule-of-law, democratic states ........................ 152
3.4. Main issues of the new stage
of constitutional developments
in the Republic of Armenia ............................ 172

CHAPTER 4. GLOBAL CHALLENGES OF GUARANTEEING
CONSTITUTIONALISM ...................................... 186
4.1. Interreleations between statehood
and constitutionalism .................................... 186
4.2. The new posture of supranational
constitutionalism ........................................... 190
4.3. Guaranteeing of constitutionalism
as a criterion of rule-of-law State .................. 192
4.4. Guarantees of constitutionalism
in the Anglo-American and continental
legal systems ................................................. 233
4.5. Constitutionalism at the crossroads
of politics and law .......................................... 243
4.6. Constitutional roots of public
concordance and tolerance ............................ 247
4.7. Main issues of constitutionalization
of the social behaviour of the individual
and political and public behaviour
of state authorities ......................................... 249
4.8. Axiological nature and features
of the national constitutionalism ................... 254
4.9. Main deformations of constitutionalism
in the transformative social systems ............. 261
4.10. Axiological main issues of constitutional
developments from the perspective
of the contemporary challenges .................... 276

CHAPTER 5. THE IMPERATIVE OF GUARANTEEING
THE SUPREMACY OF THE CONSTITUTION ..... 287
5.1. Contemporary requirements regarding
constitutional review ..................................... 287
5.2. Trends of development for the systems
of constitutional justice ................................. 319
5.3. Interpretation of the Constitution
by the Constitutional Court ........................... 331
5.4. Settlement of disputes regarding
constitutional powers as the guarantee
for constitutionalism ...................................... 337
5.5. Precendential nature of the decisions
of the Constitutional Court ............................ 345
5.6. New stage of international cooperation
in the field of constitutional justice ............... 356

CHAPTER 6. CONSTITUTIONAL MONITORING
AS A NEW QUALITY OF THE EXPRESSION
OF CONSTITUTIONAL CULTURE ..................... 360
6.1. Organic link between the definitions
“Constitution”, “constitutional culture”,
“constitutionalism”, “constitutional
monitoring” in the context of sustainable
development .................................................. 360
6.2. Conceptual approach in introducing
systemic constitutional monitoring .............. 382
6.3. Мain issues of constitutional monitoring
in the conditions of social transformation ...... 385
6.4. ‘’Constitutional control’’ and
‘’constitutional monitoring’’: interrelation
and manifestation of its essence .................. 387
6.5. Constitutional diagnostics as a mechanism
for implementation of systemic
constitutional monitoring .............................. 391
6.6. Constitutional monitoring
for guaranteeing the rule of law ................... 398
6.7. Constitutional monitoring for ensuring
functional balance of power .......................... 410
6.8. Constitutional monitoring
and constitutional responsibility ................... 420

INSTEAD OF A CONCLUSION:
ROLE OF THE RULE OF LAW CHECKLIST
IN THE SYSTEM OF CONSTITUTIONAL MONITORING
/CONCEPTUAL APPROACHES/ ......................................... 427

APPENDIX I ................................................................................... 438
APPENDIX II .............................................................................. 454
SUMMARY ............................................................................. 479