In this paper we use novel historical data on economics and social rights from the constitutions of 201 countries and an instrument variable strategy to answer two important questions. First, do economic and social rights provisions in constitutions reduce poverty? Second, does the strength of...

The author argues that the Supreme Court has not fulfilled the expectations of marginalized groups that government action and inaction would be subject to Canadian Charter scrutiny. Instead it has perpetuated exclusion, disadvantage and discrimination against the poor. By exploring the few...

United States constitutional law and theory has not focused on the poor lately. Yet poverty rates in the U.S. have reached their highest levels in 50 years. The great wealth disparities in the U.S. are at least partly responsible for the Occupy Wall Street Movement, and perhaps even the Tea...

In this paper we use novel historical data on economics and social rights from the constitutions of 201 countries and an instrument variable strategy to answer two important questions. First, do economic and social rights provisions in constitutions reduce poverty? Second, does the strength of...

Social rights - to basic income, health care, education, decent work - are indispensable for constitutional democracy. Yet it is widely believed that social rights have no place in U.S. experience. That is wrong. In the 1960s and 1970s, U.S. courts collaborated with social movements and activist...