Research
You will find a complete range of our monographs, muti-authored and edited works including peer-reviewed, original scholarly research across the social sciences and aligned disciplines. We publish long and short form research and you can browse the complete Bristol University Press and Policy Press archive.
Policy Press also publishes policy reviews and polemic work which aim to challenge policy and practice in certain fields. These books have a practitioner in mind and are practical, accessible in style, as well as being academically sound and referenced.
Books: Research
This chapter examines the direct and indirect impacts of constitutional law upon the terms of citizenship as a legal status, including issues of acquisition and loss and the ever present shadow of statelessness. The focus is on the main modes of acquisition and loss of citizenship, with consideration in addition of associated topics such as dual citizenship. The chapter raises the important question of how higher constitutional norms such as equality can shape citizenship as a legal status.
The book explores tensions in the relationship between citizenship and constitutions. It starts from the proposition that the citizen is a central figure in most if not all constitutional set-ups at the state level, and then highlights the paradox that in many constitutions matters of citizenship are not regulated in detail. The idea of the ‘constitutional citizen’ is developed and explored in Part Two, across chapters looking at the ideal of citizenship, modes of acquisition and loss of citizenship, and citizenship rights. Two themes emerge in those central chapters: the potential role of superordinate constitutional principles such as equality and dignity in filling out the concept of constitutional citizenship and the question as to how states should determine the boundaries of citizenship. Should it be via the constitution as interpreted by courts, or via the legislature as representing the people? Part Three of the book explores some of the challenges which the idea of constitutional citizenship faces today. It looks at the effects of the rise of populist politics in many countries, including the acceleration in some countries of constitutional amendments to mirror an exclusivist concept of the people. Then it turns to the fragmentation of the governance of citizenship. Here we see a turn away from an exclusive focus on the state and an increased impact of international institutions on citizenship. An exploration of the paradox of the simultaneous rise of populism and globalisation forms the centrepiece of the book’s conclusions.
The conclusions seek to reinforce how the two sets of issues explored in Chapters 6 and 7 articulate with each other, against the backdrop of the examples discussed in Part Two and the framework for study elaborated in Part One.
The book explores tensions in the relationship between citizenship and constitutions. It starts from the proposition that the citizen is a central figure in most if not all constitutional set-ups at the state level, and then highlights the paradox that in many constitutions matters of citizenship are not regulated in detail. The idea of the ‘constitutional citizen’ is developed and explored in Part Two, across chapters looking at the ideal of citizenship, modes of acquisition and loss of citizenship, and citizenship rights. Two themes emerge in those central chapters: the potential role of superordinate constitutional principles such as equality and dignity in filling out the concept of constitutional citizenship and the question as to how states should determine the boundaries of citizenship. Should it be via the constitution as interpreted by courts, or via the legislature as representing the people? Part Three of the book explores some of the challenges which the idea of constitutional citizenship faces today. It looks at the effects of the rise of populist politics in many countries, including the acceleration in some countries of constitutional amendments to mirror an exclusivist concept of the people. Then it turns to the fragmentation of the governance of citizenship. Here we see a turn away from an exclusive focus on the state and an increased impact of international institutions on citizenship. An exploration of the paradox of the simultaneous rise of populism and globalisation forms the centrepiece of the book’s conclusions.
The focus in this chapter is on the relationship between citizenship rights, constitutional rights and human rights. This chapter closes off the second part of the book, with a reflection on how we understand rights in a constitutional context. The main themes here concern the scope and enforceability of rights, coupled with reflections on how rights can strain the relationships between majoritarian and non-majoritarian institutions in democracies (e.g. between parliaments and courts).
This chapter introduces and summarises the whole book, and offers preliminary thoughts on key concepts which underpin the analysis: citizenship, constitution, nationality and ‘the people’. The chapter reflects on methodological inspirations, showing that the approach builds on the traditions of comparative constitutional law, while adopting a broadly socio-legal approach. This interdisciplinary approach owes much to ideas of constitutional ethnography, aiming to suggest themes across different case studies, not explanations for variation.
At a time of rising populism and debate about immigration, leading legal academic Jo Shaw sets out to review interactions between constitutions and constructs of citizenship.
This incisive appraisal is the first sustained treatment of the relationship between citizenship and constitutional law in a comparative and transnational perspective.
Drawing on examples from around the world, it assesses how countries’ legal, political and cultural processes help to determine the boundaries of citizenship.
For students and academics across political, social and international disciplines, Shaw offers an accessible response to some of the most pressing international questions of our age.
This chapter explores constitutional fundamentals such as constituent power, sovereignty and constitutional identity, and then examine how ideas such as equality and dignity can shape the constitution’s engagement with citizenship. The aim is to assess the constitutional ideal of citizenship, under which heading we can explore the proposition that the ideal-type of a citizenry is comprised of free, equal and sovereign citizens, underpinned by a notion of dignity.
This chapter explores the relationship between constitutional citizenship and the rise of populism within political discourse and political practices in many countries. Is this leading to the erosion of modern citizenship as an ideal of equality and self-rule, or can we see an effective triangulation of the tensions between the rule of law and the rule of people, which in fact contributes to the ideals and effectiveness of both citizenship and democracy? The discussion focuses on how populist politics close down the discursive space within which constitutional citizenship can function, leading to outcomes which tend to be exclusionary towards outsiders. The chapter notes that many populist politicians make extensive use of constitutional amendment processes to reinforce their sense of identity with the people.
The book explores tensions in the relationship between citizenship and constitutions. It starts from the proposition that the citizen is a central figure in most if not all constitutional set-ups at the state level, and then highlights the paradox that in many constitutions matters of citizenship are not regulated in detail. The idea of the ‘constitutional citizen’ is developed and explored in Part Two, across chapters looking at the ideal of citizenship, modes of acquisition and loss of citizenship, and citizenship rights. Two themes emerge in those central chapters: the potential role of superordinate constitutional principles such as equality and dignity in filling out the concept of constitutional citizenship and the question as to how states should determine the boundaries of citizenship. Should it be via the constitution as interpreted by courts, or via the legislature as representing the people? Part Three of the book explores some of the challenges which the idea of constitutional citizenship faces today. It looks at the effects of the rise of populist politics in many countries, including the acceleration in some countries of constitutional amendments to mirror an exclusivist concept of the people. Then it turns to the fragmentation of the governance of citizenship. Here we see a turn away from an exclusive focus on the state and an increased impact of international institutions on citizenship. An exploration of the paradox of the simultaneous rise of populism and globalisation forms the centrepiece of the book’s conclusions.
