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In the course of the development of modern constitutionalism the biennium of 1848-9 has been continuously underrated. No collection of its constitutions has ever been published, nor any systematic interpretation of them has yet been written in spite of the fact that during the revolutionary upheaval of 1848-9, more than 40 constitutions were, with at least some sort of public legitimacy, drafted in Europe and most of them enacted.
The twelve articles assembled in this volume were written to illustrate, with a focus on the organization of legislative and executive powers, some major aspects of this struggle. Besides several German, Italian, and Austro-Hungarian constitutions and those of France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, the constitution of Wisconsin is deliberately included to document the whole range of ideas from nearly unconcealed opposition to major constitutional concessions to the rule of popular sovereignty in a democratic republic and to demonstrate the similarities as well as the differences between European and American constitutional concepts at the time. As a result, the years 1848-9 stand out for some major results that transformed the performance of modern constitutionalism in Europe during the second half of the nineteenth and in the twentieth centuries.
List of contents
Inhalt: A. Chiavistelli / L. Mannori, The Tuscan Statute of 1848. Background and Genesis of a Constitution - J. Zlinszky, The First Hungarian Civil Constitution (1848). Organization of Executive and Legislative Power - W. Brauneder, Separation of Powers in Austria's First Constitutions - W. Speitkamp, Die Verfassungsfrage in Kurhessen - A. Schulz, »Starke Regierung auf volksthümlicher Grundlage.« Die revolutionären Verfassungen der Hansestädte von 1848/49 - A. H. Huussen Jr., Constitutional Reform in the Netherlands 1847-1848 - H. Ullrich, The »Statuto Albertino«. Appendix: Recollections Regarding King Victor Emmanuel II and the Constitution, Written by Carlo Cadorna in 1878 - D. Hein, »Self-Government der Nation.« Exekutive und Legislative in der deutschen Reichsverfassung von 1849 - R. J. Schweizer, Die Ausgestaltung der Regierung des Bundes in der Schweizerischen Bundesverfassung von 1848 - F. Lambert, La Genèse de la Constitution du 4 novembre 1848. De la confiscation de la Révolution à la défaite de la République - G. Galasso, La Costituzione romana del 1849 - H. Dippel, »A mixed form of government founded on democratic principles.« The Wisconsin Constitution of 1848 and the Virtuous Republic
About the author
Dr. Horst Dippel, Jg. 1942, Studium der Geschichte an den Universitäten Köln, Heidelberg und Göttingen, ist Professor an der Universität Kassel.
