Research institutes
Montesquieu Institute
The Montesquieu Institute Maastricht is a research centre dedicated to European and comparative parliamentary studies. Montesquieu's 'formula' for the organisation of a sustainable and democratic society has to a large extent determined the organisation of many 'modern' parliamentary democracies. However, this formula provides some challenging questions: is it still applicable nowadays? One of the objectives of the inter-university Montesquieu Institute is to stimulate both Dutch and foreign scientiok for answers to this kind of questions. It is a collaboration between, amongst others, UM, Leiden University and the University of Groningen.
Fast facts
- European and comparative study of liberal democracies, parliamentary systems and the rule of law
- participates in the interuniversity Montesquieu institute
- main seat: Maastricht Faculty of Law
- led by Prof. Aalt Willem Heringa
Research
The Montesquieu Institute Maastricht focuses on parliamentary systems of government in Europe and in the European Union, on aspects of separation of power, democracy and the rule of law and human rights. The Institute’s aim is to contribute to the academic and public debate on democracy and governance in the European Union and its member-states by deepening the understanding of the constitutional structures and political practice of national systems of parliamentary government and rule of law and democracy. It takes a thoroughly comparative approach to parliamentary studies in a European context and analyses national systems in a vertical multi-layered perspective.
With its focus, the constitutional law research is well suited to the faculty and university themes related to globalisation, Europeanisation and comparative law, as laid down in the two research pillars about Global Justice and Institutional Transformation.
Montesquieu’s research mainly takes place in the following pillars:
1. Global Justice
2. Institutional Transformations
Montesquieu news
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Staatsrecht begrepen
Friday, May 1, 2020Read moreThis publication is only in Dutch.
Staatsrecht begrepen is een gestructureerde en systematische inleiding in het Nederlandse staatsrecht. Lichamen, organen, bevoegdheden, wetgeving, de verhouding regering en parlement, rechtspraak, grondrechten, bestuur, decentralisatie, de doorwerking van EU-recht en van internationaal recht worden beschreven en uiteengezet. -
Populism and Democracy
Tuesday, April 7, 2020Read moreThis volume is part of a research project on populism and democracy conducted at Maastricht University, Faculty of Law, and funded by the Statesman Thorbecke Fund at the Dutch Royal Academy of Sciences (knaw).
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SAVE THE DATE: Conference 'Populism and Democracy'
Friday, October 11, 2019Read moreThe conference 'Populism and Democracy' brings together scholars of constitutional law and political science from around the world to discuss the influence of populist politics on constitutional developments, the reasons for success or failure of constitutional defences, and potential ways out of the global crisis of liberal democracy. The conference will take place on Friday, 24 April 2020 at UM Campus Brussels.
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Better Legal Education in Indonesia
Friday, September 20, 2019The Faculties of Law of Airlangga University in Surabaya and Maastricht University, the Netherlands, in collaboration with the Maastricht School of Management (MSM) have been awarded a grant under the Orange Knowledge Programme to embark on the important mission of strengthening skills, ethics, and integrity in Indonesian legal education. This newsletter aims to provide you with the latest update on the project.
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Constitutions compared
Friday, September 13, 2019The 5th edition of this handbook provides a user-friendly introduction to comparative constitutional law. For each area of constitutional law, a general introduction and a comparative overview is provided, which is then followed by more detailed country chapters on that specific area. The author has expanded several chapters to provide for even more detail on national legal systems and constitutional comparison.
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Comparative Constitutional Law Documents
Friday, September 13, 2019Comparative Constitutional Law Documents contains a selection of constitutions and fundamental legislative instruments from five Western democracies: the United States, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
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Montesquieu bundel: Groot onderhoud of kruimelwerk
Friday, July 5, 2019Dutch only.
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Heeft de Nederlandse democratie en rechtsstaat groot, achterstallig onderhoud nodig, of blijft het beperkt tot kruimelwerk? Zorgt het advies van Staatscommissie Remkes voor te hoge constitutionele verwachtingen? Dit is de vraag die centraal staat in de nieuwste bundel van het Montesquieu Instituut die op 3 juli werd uitgereikt aan minister Ollongren van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties. -
“Better less control over more than the other way around”
Monday, July 1, 2019As part of our series Maastricht, reflecting on Europe, Aalt Willem Heringa, professor of (Comparative) Constitutional and Administrative Law, calls for more powers to the European Parliament.
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Indonesia legal education and legal society project (OKP)
Monday, June 17, 2019We are happy to report that a large project, Indonesia legal education and legal society, under NUFFIC’s Orange Knowledge Programme has been awarded to our faculty.
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Europa, Europa: op weg naar de verkiezingen van mei 2019
Tuesday, May 7, 2019The newest edition of the Montesquieu reeks no 12 "Europa, Europa: op weg naar de verkiezingen van mei 2019" ("Europe, Europe: on the way to the May 2019 elections") is out!
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An uneven balance? A legal analysis of power asymmetries between national parliaments in the EU
Monday, March 25, 2019The book provides a comprehensive legal analysis of power asymmetries that exist between national parliaments in the EU.
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New book: Bevrijdende en begrenzende soevereiniteit
Tuesday, December 11, 2018New book: Bevrijdende en begrenzende soevereiniteit. The book brings together many of the annual conference contributions (both English and Dutch). The contributions focus in particular on the meaning of sovereignty and the relationship between the nation state and the European Union.
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Launch of Montesquieu volume 11 'Een goede raad'
Tuesday, October 16, 2018This information is only available in Dutch.
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Comparative Government ook in Luzern
Thursday, August 4, 2016De staf van het Maastrichtse MI zal dit najaar voor de tweede keer de mastercursus Comparative Government verzorgen aan de rechtenfaculteit van de universiteit van Luzern. Deze samenwerking bevalt beide partijen uitstekend en geeft ons kans om onze expertise op het vergelijkende staatsrecht te delen met een grotere groep (internationale) studenten. De docenten die in Luzern zullen doceren zijn Aalt Willem Heringa, Sascha Hardt en Thu Hoai Nguyen.
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Montesquieu Blogs
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Read moreinGeneral
Since the educational spaces in our faculty have all been named, we would like to tell about the background of the elected jurists and cases. Through a series of blogs we want to make the names come to life and show that our building houses a legal faculty. After all, not everyone knows all the ins...
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Read moreinGeneral
The recent verdict (“the PSPP judgment”) of the German Federal Constitutional Court (“FCC”) on the compatibility of the Public Sector Purchase Programme (“the Programme”) under the management of the European Central Bank (“ECB”) has attracted plenty of commentary, much of it critical concerning the...
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Read moreinGeneral
On Tuesday, 7 April the Dutch Eerste Kamer approved an urgent bill digital decision-making for local authorities, de spoedwet digitale besluitvorming. The law ensures that municipal councils, provincial states, water boards as well as island councils will be able to take decisions digitally for as...
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Read moreinGeneral
The current pandemic caused by the Corona virus has had a decisive impact to all areas of life: from moving school and University education online, to shutting down non-essential businesses while a range of emergency measures were adopted throughout the world for those finding themselves unemployed...
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Read moreinGeneral
Monday, 9 March 2020 marked the 100th day in office of the new European Commission under President Von der Leyen. The Commission had promised to deliver a number of priorities set out in the President’s Political Guidelines by this self-imposed deadline – priorities that, however, do not include...
Blogs and papers
Many of the scholars at the Montesquieu Institute are regularly contribute to blogs and publications in the fields of European and comparative constitutional law and politics. The blogs and papers page contains an overview of the latest contributions.
Go to the blogs and papers page
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