Constitutional directive principles

Abstract

This article is the first step toward developing a general and systematic account of constitutional directive principles. Directive principles are an increasingly common way of constitutionally entrenching social values and provide an alternative to conventional rights provisions that has yet to be adequately understood. They place binding but typically non-justiciable obligations on the state to promote social values, and they are designed to be given effect by means other than direct judicial enforcement-predominantly, by legislation. This innovative design inserts an element of political constitutionalism within legal constitutionalism. Understanding directive principles thus presents imp..