Formal and functional entrenchment do not differ in harm or benefit
Evidence
In short, entrenchment can be used for good as well as for ill. But—and here is the crucial point—this goes for formal as well as functional entrenchment. An unamendable statutory formula could replace the delegated authority of the Federal Reserve as a means of locking in sound monetary policy. If stringent environmental regulation will provide long-term benefits in preventing climate change, those benefits could also be achieved through legislative entrenchment, or perhaps alternatively by tilting the electoral playing field in favor of liberal Democrats. … In sum, there is nothing about the distinction between formal and functional entrenchment that would appear to correlate with social harms or benefits. Both can be motivated by the narrow political self-interest of parties, politicians, and interest groups; or, alternatively, by broader, public-regarding motivations. And both can be used to accomplish the same outcomes, insulating officeholders and policies against downstream majorities with different preferences. Given the broad substitutability of formal and functional entrenchment mechanisms, there is no reason to believe that one would be categorically more harmful (or beneficial) than the other. — Daryl Levinson and Benjamin I. Sachs, Political Entrenchment and Public Law, 399
Categorization
Category: Causal Relationships
Related
- Blocking formal entrenchment hydraulically increases functional substitutes (similarity 0.83)
- Political entrenchment operates through informal and coercive means, not only formal legal rules (similarity 0.83)
- When formal entrenchment is blocked, policy actors substitute physical or functional barriers instead. (similarity 0.83)
- Political entrenchment means making political change more difficult than it otherwise would be (similarity 0.81)
- Functional political entrenchment works without changing formal legal rules (similarity 0.81)
- No existing framework bounds the entrenchment category once formality is dropped (similarity 0.80)
- Entrenchment can serve public ends like precommitment and stability, not just self-serving power (similarity 0.79)
- Public law mostly channels the means of politics rather than dictating its ends. (similarity 0.78)