Desperately seeking Europe: On comparative methodology and the conception of rights

Abstract

European and U.S. Constitutionalism is not a general comparative exploration of constitutionalism in the United States and Europe. As Georg Nolte tells us in the introduction, this volume addresses, instead, the “ question of the emergence of a specifi c European constitutional identity ... particularly vis-a-vis the United States of America. ” 1 In that spirit, the essays in this book are concerned less with identifying constitutional commonalities between Europe and the United States than with pressing points of difference; and less with pressing points of intra-European difference than with identifying commonalities within Europe that, in turn, allow for an examination of difference with the United States. This volume, then, comes with a purpose. It grows out of a conference organized by the European Commission for Democracy through Law (known as the Venice Commission), an independent advisory body created by the Council of Europe with the original aim of providing expert constitutional advice to — and promoting democracy and the rule of law in — the emerging Central and Eastern European democracies. Over the years, the Venice Commission has moved from its initial focus on drafting constitutions to providing advice on interpretation and implementation as well. More important, the commission has moved beyond its original goal of assisting new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe to fostering a more general understanding (and perhaps, thereby, prodding the emergence) of what might be seen as a distinctively European approach to constitutionalism.