Exploring Law's Empire is a collection of essays examining the work of Ronald Dworkin in the philosophy of law and constitutionalism. A group of leading legal theorists develop, defend and critique the major areas of Dworkin's work, including his criticism of legal positivism, his theory of law as integrity, and his work on constitutional theory. The volume concludes with a lengthy response to the essays by Dworkin himself, which develops and clarifies many of his positions on the central questions of legal and constitutional theory. The volume represents an ideal companion for students and scholars embarking on a study of Dworkin's work.

The Constitution of Empire offers a constitutional and historical survey of American territorial expansion from the founding era to the present day. The authors describe the Constitution’s design for territorial acquisition and governance and examine the ways in which practice over the past two hundred years has diverged from that original vision. Noting that most of America’s territorial acquisitions—including the Louisiana Purchase, the Alaska Purchase, and the territory acquired after the Mexican-American and Spanish-American Wars—resulted from treaties, the authors elaborate a Jeffersonian-based theory of the federal treaty power and assess American territorial acquisitions from this perspective. They find that at least one American acquisition of territory and many of the basic institutions of territorial governance have no constitutional foundation, and they explore the often-strange paths that constitutional law has traveled to permit such deviations from the Constitution’s original meaning.

Unlock the world of legal theory with "Jurisprudence," a key addition to the Political Science series. Whether you're a scholar, practitioner, or enthusiast, this book provides a deep dive into the principles shaping justice systems worldwide. Chapter Summaries: 1. Jurisprudence - Introduction to the fundamental questions about the nature and purpose of law. 2. Natural Law - Exploration of moral principles inherent in human nature and their influence on legal systems. 3. Philosophy of Law - Examination of philosophical inquiries underpinning legal structures and justice. 4. Legal Positivism - Analysis of the theory that laws are rules created by human authorities, separate from morals. 5. Indeterminacy Debate in Legal Theory - Discussion of whether legal interpretations are inherently indeterminate. 6. Legal Realism - Perspective emphasizing the real-world effects and practical realities of law. 7. Ronald Dworkin - Overview of Dworkin’s contributions, including his ideas about law as integrity. 8. H. L. A. Hart - Insight into Hart’s influential theories on legal positivism and the rule of recognition. 9. The Concept of Law - Further exploration of Hart’s work on the structure and function of legal systems. 10. Joseph Raz - Understanding Raz’s theories on law, authority, and normativity. 11. Virtue Ethics - Examination of moral character and virtues in shaping legal systems. 12. Virtue Jurisprudence - Intersection of virtue ethics and legal theory, focusing on moral dimensions. 13. Good - Philosophical inquiry into what constitutes ‘good’ in legal contexts. 14. John Finnis - Study of Finnis’s contributions to natural law theory. 15. Positivism - Revisit of legal positivism and its impact on contemporary thought. 16. Index of Social and Political Philosophy Articles - Comprehensive index for exploring related topics. 17. Index of Philosophy of Law Articles - Detailed index of articles on legal philosophy. 18. Matthew Kramer - Exploration of Kramer’s perspectives and critiques of legal positivism. 19. Law’s Empire - Analysis of Dworkin’s vision of law as a coherent system of principles. 20. Legal Norm - Understanding the role of legal norms in legal systems. 21. Experimental Jurisprudence - Investigation of empirical research in testing legal theories. "Jurisprudence" offers invaluable insights and is a crucial resource for understanding the complexities of legal theory, making it a valuable investment for your intellectual journey.

This book makes the important but surprisingly under-explored argument that modern international law was built on the foundations of Roman law and Roman imperial practice. A pivotal figure in this enterprise was the Italian Protestant Alberico Gentili (1552-1608), the great Oxford Roman law scholar and advocate, whose books and legal opinions on law, war, empire, embassies and maritime issues framed the emerging structure of inter-state relations in terms of legal rights and remedies drawn from Roman law and built on Roman and scholastic theories of just war and imperial justice. The distinguished group of contributors examine the theory and practice of justice and law in Roman imperial wars and administration; Gentili's use of Roman materials; the influence on Gentili of Vitoria and Bodin and his impact on Grotius and Hobbes; and the ideas and influence of Gentili and other major thinkers from the 16th to the 18th centuries on issues such as preventive self-defence, punishment, piracy, Europe's political and mercantile relations with the Ottoman Empire, commerce and trade, European and colonial wars and peace settlements, reason of state, justice, and the relations between natural law and observed practice in providing a normative and operational basis for international relations and what became international law. This book explores ways in which both the theory and the practice of international politics was framed in ways that built on these Roman private law and public law foundations, including concepts of rights. This history of ideas has continuing importance as European ideas of international law and empire have become global, partly accepted and partly contested elsewhere in the world.

In times in which global governance in its various forms, such as human rights, international trade law, and development projects, is increasingly promoted by transnational economic actors and international institutions that seem to be detached from democratic processes of legitimation, the question of the relationship between international law and empire is as topical as ever. By examining this relationship in historical contexts from early modernity to the present, this volume aims to deepen current understandings of the way international legal institutions, practices, and narratives have shaped specifically imperial ideas about and structures of world governance. As it explores fundamental ways in which international legal discourses have operated in colonial as well as European contexts, the book enters a heated debate on the involvement of the modern law of nations in imperial projects. Each of the chapters contributes to this emerging body of scholarship by drawing out the complexity and ambivalence of the relationship between international law and empire. They expand on the critique of western imperialism while acknowledging the nuances and ambiguities of international legal discourse and, in some cases, the possibility of counter-hegemonic claims being articulated through the language of international law. Importantly, as the book suggests that international legal argument may sometimes be used to counter imperial enterprises, it maintains that international law can barely escape the Eurocentric framework within which the progressive aspirations of internationalism were conceived

'Legalist Empire' explores the intimate connections between international law and empire in the United States from 1898 to 1919.