Delegitimation by Constitution? – Liberal Democratic Experimentalism and the Question of Socio-economic Rights

Abstract

Frank Michelman’s essay “Legitimacy, the Social Turn, and Constitutional Review: What Political Liberalism Suggests” examines the conditions under which political liberalism (and liberal constitutional review) can be reconciled with the insistence that governmental compliance with social security demands of citizens be subject to constitutional norms. According to Michelman, the conditions are fourfold, and all of them would need to be in place for liberal constitutional review to be reconcilable with constitutional social security demands. The four conditions are these: