Buddhism and Comparative Constitutional Law

Tom Ginsburg is the Leo Spitz Professor of International Law at the University of Chicago and a Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation. Benjamin Schonthal is Professor of Buddhist Studies and Head of the Religion Programme at the University of Otago, where he also Co-directs the Otago Centre for Law and Society.

1. Introduction: mapping the Buddhist-constitutional complex in Asia Tom Ginsburg and Benjamin Schonthal; Part I. Religious and Political Underpinnings: 2. Buddhism and constitutionalism in precolonial Southeast Asia D. Christian Lammerts; 3. Theorizing constitutionalism in Buddhist-dominant Asian polities Asanga Welikala; Part II. The Himalayas: 4. The Zhabdrung's legacy: Buddhism and constitutional transformation in Bhutan Richard W. Whitecross; 5. The 'trick of law': the hermeneutics of Early Buddhist law in Tibet Martin A. Mills; 6. Tibetan Buddhist monastic constitutional law and governmental constitutional law: mutual influences? Berthe Jansen; Part III. South and Southeast Asia: 7. Guardians of the law: Sinhala language and Buddhist reformation in post-war Sri Lanka Krishantha Fedricks; 8. Thai constitutions as a battle ground for political authority: Barami versus 'vox populi' Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang; 9. Establishing the king as the source of the constitution: shifting 'bricolaged' narratives of Buddhist kingship from Siam to Thailand Eugénie Mérieau; 10. Buddhist constitutionalism beyond constitutional law: Buddhist statecraft and military ideology in Myanmar Iselin Frydenlund; 11. Reconstituting the divided Sangha: Buddhist authority in post-conflict Cambodia Benjamin Lawrence; Part IV. North and Northeast Asia: 12. Constitutional Buddhism: Japanese Buddhists and constitutional law Levi McLaughlin; 13. Governing Buddhism in Vietnam Bui Ngoc Son; 14. The Buddhist Association of China and constitutional law in Buddhist majority nations: the international channels of influence André Laliberté; 15. Governing 'Lamaism' on the 'frontier': Buddhism and law in early twentieth century Inner Mongolia Daigengna Duoer; 16. Buddhist constitutional battlegrounds: using the courts to litigate monastic celibacy in South Korea (1955–1970) Mark A. Nathan; Part V. Comparative Perspectives: 17. On the familiar pleasures of estrangement Deepa Das Acevedo; 18. Buddhism and constitutionalism: a comparison with the canon law Richard H. Helmholz; 19. Islam and constitutional law Clark Lombardi.