Law and Philosophy Article

My paper "Civic Liberalism and the 'Dialogical Model' of Judicial Review" has just come out in print in the September issue of the journal Law and Philosophy (subscription needed). Here is the abstract:

In this paper I aim to help lessen the strangle-hold the principle-oriented approach to justice has on political theorists. The appropriate metric for measuring the justice of a system of social cooperation, I argue, is one that focuses on the exercise of the virtues of fair social cooperation. I defend a virtue-oriented theory of justice called civic liberalism. Civic liberalism emphasizes the moral and pragmatic dimensions of the virtues of toleration, civility and fairness. After outlining the deficiencies of the principle-oriented approach to justice, I develop the framework for a theory of justice that takes seriously our liberal and democratic commitments. Such a framework resolves the ‘Madisonian Dilemma’ and prescribes that we strive for a middle ground between legislative and judicial supremacy. More specifically, I argue that a ‘dialogical model’ of judicial review is such a middle ground and that it enhances the exercise of the virtues of fair social cooperation.

Cheers,
Colin