Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Juridification and Democracy

2009; Oxford University Press; Volume: 62; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1093/pa/gsp012

1460-2482

Mark Bevir,

Political Systems and Governance

WHAT is the state of British government? What do we wish it to become? These questions lurk within my article on ‘The Westminster Model, Governance, and Judicial Reform’. The philosopher J. L. Austin once said that he had been too busy doing what he was doing to explain why it mattered. I am grateful to Roger Masterman for impetus to explain why my article matters. My conciliatory personality will suggest that he and I broadly agree on the nature of juridification and its place in Labour's reforms. So, what is all the fuss about? Well, even if we largely agree on juridification, we point to very different answers to questions about the state of British government and what we would like it to become. My confrontational personality will devote most of my reply to these issues. I believe that British government resembles the differentiated polity of the governance narrative more than it does the Westminster model. And I also believe that we should be looking to strengthen democracy through participatory institutions as well as representative ones.