Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Editorial
Even when the recommendation is a straight A (acceptance, excuse the pun) good
peer reviewing will still provide the Editors with a reasonably detailed evaluation of
the piece, explaining their view of its quality and the original contribution it makes
and, operating on the principle that there is nothing that is so good that it cannot be
improved, providing abundant suggestions and recommendations to the author. The
evaluation for the Editors is particularly valuable in those cases where there is a di-
vergence of opinion among the peer reviewers. Explaining the originality and impor-
Critical in an R&R report is the “road map” approach. The author should not only
understand the weaknesses but should understand perfectly what needs to be done
so that, if performed to an adequate standard, the revised article is likely to be ac-
cepted on resubmission. In drafting the R&R report, the peer reviewer should keep in
mind this road map approach. Editors will often send the R&R report to the author,
asking for reactions to the recommendations, an indication whether they are in agree-
ment with the peer review, and an indication of how they plan to revise the piece. The
In this issue
This issue opens with I•CON’s second Foreword, authored by Ran Hirschl and Ayelet
Shachar, who engage with the spatial dimensions of public law and the resilience of
state sovereignty, elaborating examples such as the immobility of cities and the mo-
bility of people, and identifying a counter-narrative to the globalization account.
The issue continues with several essays authored by members of the journal’s
Editorial Board, who offer reflections on the theme: “Thirty Years from the Fall of
the Berlin Wall: The World after 1989.” Cora Chan reflects on the balance between
Chinese authoritarianism and the Hong Kong liberal values, and on what needs to be
done before China’s commitment to respect Hong Kong’s autonomy expires. Wen-Chen
Chang focuses on the transitional and transnational dimensions of constitutionalism
and argues that counter-democratic trends are a reprisal against the privileges of legal
and judicial elites. Sujit Choudhry elaborates on how to extend the “post-sovereign”
constitution-making project to contemporary self-determination challenges. Erika de
Wet argues that democratic legitimacy is a relevant factor that has been considered in
recognizing governments in Africa but that it has not evolved into a required condition
for governmental recognition. José Manuel Díaz de Valdés and Sergio Verdugo examine
how the constitutional strategies of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our
386 I•CON 17 (2), 383–386