Wim Voermans launches new book 'Onze constitutie'
The Netherlands has one of the oldest constitutions in the world and a stable system of government lasting more than two centuries. The system’s ‘ground rules’ are essential for how we shape our destiny together, yet they are little-known, sometimes almost invisible set pieces necessary for our nationwide, political, legal, and even everyday, coexistence.
In his book Onze constitutie: de geschreven en ongeschreven regels van het Nederlandse staatsbestel (Our constitution: the written and unwritten rules of the Dutch system of government) (Publisher Prometheus), Voermans attempts to bring to life those often unfathomable rules of the old Dutch constitutional system by looking, beyond the ‘mist’ of legal technique and jargon, at their background. It is easier to understand those rules – partly contained in the constitution, partly in unwritten constitutional law – if you are aware of the issues to which they (attempted to) provide an answer. To this end, Voermans’ new book is a journey through the Republic, the Kingdom and the birth of the modern (legal) state and democracy in the Netherlands in an attempt to unlock the door to the Dutch constitution for everyone – laymen, enthusiasts, students and scholars of constitutional law, professionals and amateurs – in a way and using language that is accessible to all.
Onze constitutie builds on Voermans’ earlier work Het verhaal van de grondwet (2019) which looked at the phenomenon of the constitution worldwide.
More information on this Dutch publication
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