Book Reviews Hesse, Joachim Jens, and Nevil Johnson (eds.). Constitutional Policy and Change in Europe. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. Pp. ix, 392. Index. $59. This is an edited volume concerning a topic of considerable political and academic importance. In its central parts the book contains country reports from both "Western" and "Eastern" Europe - of a high quality in a field which has suffered from some inflationary pressures. The concluding essay of the editors - a kind of stocktaking cannot and does not do justice to the preceding chapters. Two introductory essays by Kommers & Thompson and by Nevil Johnson on ideas and concepts of constitutionalism are fine, thoughtful pieces. Very disappointing, however, is the unusually thin introduction to the entire book by Hesse. This is surprising given not only the richness to be found in the very volume of which he is co-editor but also given the richness of Constitutional Discourse in recent British political science by scholars like Bellamy and Castiglione and by legal theorists such as McCormick. The chapter on the European Union by Schuppert conveys the impression that the only interesting things to say about European Community constitutional ism can be said in the German literature. As an article for a German audience that would be an insult. To the broader audience of this book such an insular approach offers comic relief. The chapter by Grimm on German constitutionalism is more enlightening to general constitutional discourse than that of Schuppert on the European Union. JHHW
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