Cambridge University Press, 2007

In “Deliberative Democracy and the Institutions of Judicial Review,” Christopher Zurn uses contemporary "deliberative" theories of democratic constitutionalism to shed new light on a set of old questions:  Is judicial review democratic or antidemocratic, constitutional or anti-constitutional?  Should electorally unaccountable judges in a constitutional democracy be able to declare unconstitutional, and so overturn, the laws and decisions made through normal democratic political procedures? 

The book argues for a specific understanding of the power of constitutional review in terms of policing the procedures of deliberative democratic constitutionalism.  Zurn then recommends a range of institutions that should have powers for constitutional review, including not only independent constitutional courts, but also legislative and executive self-review panels, interbranch dialogue and civic constitutional forums.

Christopher Zurn is an associate professor of philosophy in College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky.  His research interests include deliberative democracy, constitutionalism, judicial review, critical social theory, the politics of recognition, and conceptions of personhood and the self.  He received a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University and a doctorate from Northwestern University.