On the influence of Magna Carta and other cultural relics

Zachary Elkins, Tom Ginsburg and James Melton

International Review of Law and Economics, 2016, vol. 47, issue S, 3-9

Abstract: Magna Carta’s status as a touchstone of modern thinking about the rule of law rests on several well-known myths. This article evaluates the influence of Magna Carta on modern constitutions, both in terms of formation as well as content. The analysis confirms that Magna Carta’s relevance is, if anything, on the rise, even if the causal chains linking it to current developments are weak-linked and distant. We speculate on the mysterious processes that produce influence among legal texts, arguing that champions and empire are crucial factors in the case of Magna Carta.

Keywords: Magna Carta; Rule of law; Constitutions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: K00 K1 K4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0144818816300205
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:irlaec:v:47:y:2016:i:s:p:3-9

DOI: 10.1016/j.irle.2016.05.004

Access Statistics for this article

International Review of Law and Economics is currently edited by C. Ott, A. W. Katz and H-B. Schäfer

More articles in International Review of Law and Economics from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().