Since ancient Athens democrats have taken pride in their power and inclinationto change their laws yet they have also sought to counter this capacity bycreating... » 

Since ancient Athens democrats have taken pride in their power and inclinationto change their laws yet they have also sought to counter this capacity bycreating immutable laws. In Democracy and Legal Change Melissa Schwartzbergargues that modifying law is a fundamental and attractive democratic activity.Against those who would defend the use of entrenchment clauses to protect keyconstitutional provisions from revision Schwartzberg seeks to demonstratehistorically the strategic and even unjust purposes unamendable laws havetypically served and to highlight the regrettable consequences thatentrenchment may have for democracies today. Drawing on historical evidenceclassical political thought and contemporary constitutional and democratictheory Democracy and Legal Change reexamines the relationship betweendemocracy and the rule of law from a new and often surprising set of vantagepoints. «