This thesis aims at furthering our understanding of the constitutional structures and
processes of sui generic associations such as the European Union. The thesis argues
that the problematical constitutionalisation of the European Union has highlighted the
limitations of the political thought that has served as the basis of political
associationalism since the Treaty ofWestphalia (1648) and the publication of Thomas
Hobbes' Leviathan (1651). These limitations have resulted in the European Union
being described, for want of a better expression, as sui generis. The thesis advances
the argument that in order to be in a position to understand constitutional relations in a
'non-statal' setting, what is needed is an alternative variant of political thought that is
not based in or dependent on the societas canon that originates with Hobbes. One
source of such political thought can be located in the work of Johannes Althusius
(1557-1638) who, writing in the city of Emden in the Holy Roman Empire in the early
17th Century, described a constitutional structure of a political association that differs
in significant features to the centralised state theories of the societas canon.
The thesis also argues that the traditional concepts of constitutionalism and political
association applied to sui generic constitutionalism are hampered by the inherent
weaknesses of modem political and legal vocabulary. Despite being used ad
infinitum in the constitutional discussions on the European Union, there is not a
precise definition of either the term 'constitution' or treaty' in political or legal theory.
Althusius' work avoids this weakness, due to the fact that the centralised state does
not enjoy the same position it does in the societas canon, and so the need to classify
'intra' or 'inter' state relationships does not exist to the same degree.
While taking the European Union as a workable model of a sui generic association,
this thesis does not aim at solving the European Union's constitutional problems or
offering a more suitable term to describe its nature. Rather, based on an analysis of
Althusius' work, the thesis aims to offer an alternative understanding of the problems
that result from the constitutionalisation of sui generic associations