Constitutional Justice and Constitutional Politics in France : Policy Arguments in the Case Law of the Constitutional Council

The French version of this paper can be found at http://ssrn.com/abstract=2177832In many decisions from the French constitutional court (Conseil constitutionnel), reason-giving is limited to a minimum, if not altogether absent. this articles aims at understanding this practice of weak reason-giving by showing that it displays a special understanding of politics. The French constitutional council does not, contrary to a widespread belief, ignore politics. Rather, it has a special way of dealing with policy arguments in what appears to be a mainly deductive approach to adjudication.