Studying Contemporary Constitutionalism: Memory, Myth and Horizon

Abstract:
This article proposes to apply a praxeological approach to study contemporary constitutionalism. The approach is conceptualized following critical constructivist research on constitutionalism that focuses on experience and expectation when studying the contested meaning of norms in international relations. It argues that the concept of memory offers an important view on the language-based concept of experience which extends beyond the confines of behavioural approaches that study habitual change with regard to norms. The article offers a conceptual discussion of approaches to constitutionalism, emphasizing the distinction between modern and contemporary constitutionalism and their respective foci on regulatory versus cultural practices, introduces a praxeological dimension of horizons and elaborates on political memory and myth as concepts of functional memory.