Western and Islamic Constitutionalism

This essay aims to develop the comparison between Western constitutionalism and Islamic constitutionalism. In the Western tradition the term constitutionalism points to the limitation of government through law. There have been different models of constitutionalism, in particular the American and the...

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Main Author: Gustavo Gozzi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Bologna 2025-07-01
Series:Athena
Subjects:
Online Access:https://athena.unibo.it/article/view/22081
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author Gustavo Gozzi
author_facet Gustavo Gozzi
author_sort Gustavo Gozzi
collection DOAJ
description This essay aims to develop the comparison between Western constitutionalism and Islamic constitutionalism. In the Western tradition the term constitutionalism points to the limitation of government through law. There have been different models of constitutionalism, in particular the American and the French ones, that can be understood in the light of the two interpretive categories of constitutional democracy and legislative democracy, respectively. The developments of contemporary constitutionalism appear very complex, as today's constitutions are the reflection of the cultural, religious, social and political pluralism of current societies. Therefore, the centrality of interpretation is imposed, whose complexity derives from the fact that pluralistic constitutions merge legal issues and moral issues together. About Islamic constitutionalism some Islamic thinkers consider secularism a philosophy, while Islam is another form of philosophy, which has its own vision of human life, rights and duties. In this perspective it follows that it is reasonable to think that constitutionalism can be achieved differently in different societies depending on the conceptions of rights and duties that are accepted and shared.
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spelling doaj-art-966b2c70bbb247ae824d7974a1c5576f2025-08-20T03:50:58ZengUniversity of BolognaAthena2724-62992025-07-015111414110.6092/issn.2724-6299/2208120466Western and Islamic ConstitutionalismGustavo Gozzi0University of BolognaThis essay aims to develop the comparison between Western constitutionalism and Islamic constitutionalism. In the Western tradition the term constitutionalism points to the limitation of government through law. There have been different models of constitutionalism, in particular the American and the French ones, that can be understood in the light of the two interpretive categories of constitutional democracy and legislative democracy, respectively. The developments of contemporary constitutionalism appear very complex, as today's constitutions are the reflection of the cultural, religious, social and political pluralism of current societies. Therefore, the centrality of interpretation is imposed, whose complexity derives from the fact that pluralistic constitutions merge legal issues and moral issues together. About Islamic constitutionalism some Islamic thinkers consider secularism a philosophy, while Islam is another form of philosophy, which has its own vision of human life, rights and duties. In this perspective it follows that it is reasonable to think that constitutionalism can be achieved differently in different societies depending on the conceptions of rights and duties that are accepted and shared.https://athena.unibo.it/article/view/22081western constitutionalismconstitutional democracylegislative democracyislamic constitutionalismsecularism
spellingShingle Gustavo Gozzi
Western and Islamic Constitutionalism
Athena
western constitutionalism
constitutional democracy
legislative democracy
islamic constitutionalism
secularism
title Western and Islamic Constitutionalism
title_full Western and Islamic Constitutionalism
title_fullStr Western and Islamic Constitutionalism
title_full_unstemmed Western and Islamic Constitutionalism
title_short Western and Islamic Constitutionalism
title_sort western and islamic constitutionalism
topic western constitutionalism
constitutional democracy
legislative democracy
islamic constitutionalism
secularism
url https://athena.unibo.it/article/view/22081
work_keys_str_mv AT gustavogozzi westernandislamicconstitutionalism