An extempore government in Syria

Radical Politics in West Bengal. By Marcus F. Franda. Cambridge, Mass, and London, The M. I. T. Press, 1971. Pp. xiv+287. Index. £5.85.

The Urbanization Process in the Third World: Explorations in search of a Theory. By T. G. McGee. London, G. Bell and Sons, 1971. Pp. 179. £2.25.

Economic Theory and the Underdeveloped Countries. By H. Myint. New York, London, Toronto, Oxford University Press, 1971. Pp. xii+353. Index.

Tropical Development 1880–1913: Studies in Economic Progress. Edited by W. Arthur Lewis. London, George Allen &; Unwin, 1970. Pp. 346. Index. £3.25.

Modernization without Development: Thailand as an Asian Case Study. By Norman Jacobs. New York, Washington, London, Praeger Publishers (Praeger Special Studies in International Economics and Development), 1971. Pp. ix+420. Bibliog. £7.75.

Russian Agriculture: A Geographic Survey. By Leslie Symons. London, G. Bell and Sons, 1972. Pp. xii+348. Maps. Bibliog. Index. £4.00.

Agricultural Change and the Peasant Economy of South China. By Evelyn Sakakida Rawski. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, 1972. Pp. xi+282. Bibliog. Glossary. Index. £5.25.     

A European Constitutional Patriotism? The Case Restated

Abstract:  Especially since the failure of the European Constitutional Treaty, the idea of a European constitutional patriotism has become subject to ever more intense criticism. This article argues that many of the criticisms of the idea of a European constitutional patriotism have been based on philosophical misunderstandings (both of the notion of constitutional patriotism as such, and of the role it could play in Europe) or rely on implausible empirical claims. Accordingly, the normative idea of constitutional patriotism is first clarified; second, the article discusses some of the most common normative and empirical traps when trying to 'transfer' constitutional patriotism from a domestic nation-state context to the supranational level, as well as the tendency to overburden constitutional patriotism with expectations of solidarity and deliberative democracy; third, an EU-specific post-sovereign, pluralist version of constitutional patriotism is defended against critics who see even such a vision as insufficiently sensitive to value pluralism and cultural diversity.