Judges and the Language of Law

Matthew Williams is Tutor and Fellow of Jesus College, University of Oxford, UK. He lectures on British and comparative politics. His research analyses the language of politics, how the language of legislation has changed over the past century, and the effects of these changes on litigation strategies and public administration.

• Part 1. Language in Contemporary Politics.- Chapter 1. Introduction and State of the Art.- Chapter 2. Modern Political Language.- Part 2. Quantitative History.- Chapter 3. The “New Constitutionalism” in 187 Countries.- Chapter 4. Regulating the Extent of the State in Five Democracies.- Part 3. Qualitative History.- Chapter 5. Rule of Law without a Constitution in the UK.- Chapter 6. Federalism and Party Polarisation in the US.- Chapter 7. Mixed Legal Systems with Human Rights Reform in Canada.- Chapter 8. Executive Dominance with Decentralisation in France.- Chapter 9. The Burden of History, with the Promise of Philosophy in Germany.- Chapter 10. Conclusions.