Constitution-Building in Africa

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 429-451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Manga Fombad
Keyword(s):  
Political Stability ◽  
Careful Examination ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
Critical Question ◽  
Constitutional Review ◽  
Constitutional Reforms ◽  
Constitution Building ◽  
Constitutional Legitimacy ◽  
Theoretical Foundations ◽  
Constitutional Changes

Constitution-building is a delicate and intricate process which requires ample reflection and careful choices. African constitution-builders and politicians have since the beginning of the 1990s embarked on a process of constitutional reforms. A careful examination of the developments of the last two decades shows that the process has almost provoked never-ending contagion of making, unmaking and remaking of constitutions. This paper attempts to provide an over-view of the changes that have been taking place. Some of the issues relating to the durability of national constitutions and theoretical foundations for constitutional change are discussed. The paper also considers some of the possible implications of the endless processes of making, unmaking and remaking constitutions. The critical question it tries to grapple with is how this unending process of constitution-building in Africa can be controlled in a manner that will ensure peace, political stability and provide a legitimate foundation for entrenching a firm culture of constitutionalism. In advocating for an entrenched permanent constitutional review commission to check against frequent and arbitrary constitutional changes, the paper argues that this is the best way for constitutional legitimacy to be sustained throughout the life of a constitution.

Constitutional reform calls mount across Latin America

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Constitutional Reform ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Constitutional Reforms ◽  
The Status

Significance The debate over constitutional reform will be enlivened by the upcoming election of a constituent convention in Chile on the same day as the Peruvian elections. Impacts Constitutional change may become a banner for the left elsewhere in Latin America. Future constitutional reforms may reconsider the status of indigenous communities in the Amazon. Workers’ rights, include labour stability, may be strengthened.

scholarly journals NEW DIRECTIONS OF CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES (DYNAMICS OF THE LAST FIVE YEARS)

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Author(s):  
Татьяна Масловская ◽  
Tatyana Maslovskaya
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Careful Attention ◽  
Present Stage ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Constitutional Development ◽  
The Past ◽  
Foreign Countries ◽  
New Directions ◽  
Constitutional Reforms ◽  
Constitutional Changes

The article analyzes the conditions of the constitutional reforms in foreign countries, the goal of constitutional changes at the present stage. Attention is paid to popularity of practice of adopting of interim constitutions. We study the full and partial constitutional reforms passed in foreign countries over the past five years. Provide new directions of constitutional reforms, based on modern challenges. Careful attention is paid to analysis of constitutional reforms as a response to the crisis: a crisis of values in society and the state, the security crisis. Subject to review are new constitutions of the XXI century, as well as draft constitutional laws. Provided the tendency of strengthening the state’s position in order to protect national interests. The author attempts to envisage further constitutional development in foreign countries.

Some Reflections on the Constitutional Review in Albania in a Comparison Key

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 22
Author(s):  
Ismail Tafani ◽  
Renata Tokrri
Keyword(s):  
Balkan Peninsula ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Constitutional Reform ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Constitutional Review ◽  
The World ◽  
Constitutional Legitimacy ◽  
Formal Point ◽  
Constitutional Revision

In this study we will try to analyze the foundations of the Constitution as a pillar and as a guarantee for its solidity. The study will also address the need for revision of the constitution as a fundamental element of its existence and continuity. Particular emphasis will be given to the comparison of the constitutions of the most important countries in the world as regards the procedures and limits to the constitutional revision. In this sense, the constitutions of some Balkan Peninsula countries will be analyzed to draw a comparison and analyze the Albanian Constitution as regards the procedure for its revision. The study intends to analyze the procedures for the revision of the Constitution as well as the explicit and implicit limits to these revisions. In the Constitutional revision in Albania in 2016, the role of the Constitutional Court on the control of the constitutional legitimacy of constitutional revision laws was clarified. Formal constitutionality is usually emphasized since the Albanian constitutional reform underlined that the Constitutional Court in Albania could express itself on the constitutionality of the Constitutional revision law only from a formal point of view.   Received: 2 January 2021 / Accepted: 27 February 2021 / Published: 7 March 2021

Kenyan constitutional reforms gain critical traction

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
The Political ◽  
County Governments ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Constitutional Reforms ◽  
Fiscal Space ◽  
The Cost

Significance If the referendum passes, it will lead to significant changes to the political system, including new executive posts, the devolution of more national revenues to county governments and measures to ensure more women are elected to parliament. Impacts Fully implementing the BBI’s wide-ranging reforms may take years, and if mishandled could delay the 2022 elections. The proposals will significantly increase the cost of government, which in turn will exacerbate the shrinking fiscal space. An enlarged executive encompassing a broader range of leaders may boost political stability, but it will likely also aggravate graft.

Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-36
Author(s):  
Richard Albert
Keyword(s):  
First Amendment ◽  
Basic Structure ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
Common Phenomenon ◽  
The World ◽  
Amendment Rule ◽  
National Constitution ◽  
Constitutional Changes

What is an amendment? This chapter shows why this question is central to the study of constitutional change. Some constitutional changes are identified as amendments but in reality may be more. Whether a constitutional change is an amendment entails implications for how the change must be made, whether a court can and should evaluate its constitutionality, and what the change requires for legitimation. This chapter returns to the origins of formal amendment—to the Articles of Confederation, America’s first constitution, which codified the very first amendment rule in a national constitution—to uncover the foundations of amendment practice and what makes an amendment different from other constitutional changes. This chapter moreover raises a question about an increasingly common phenomenon that straddles the border of legality and legitimacy: the violation of amendment rules. This chapter explains that the Indian basic structure doctrine and Bruce Ackerman’s theory of constitutional moments are, at bottom, variations on the same theme we see all over the world: changes to amendment rules that occur in defiance of the rules of formal amendment. Many examples follow to illustrate this point. The chapter closes by describing and situating the importance of the chapters to follow in this book. This chapter considers constitutions from around the globe.

scholarly journals Relationships among Constitution, Stress, and Discomfort in the First Trimester

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hsiao-Ling Wang ◽  
Tzu-Chi Lee ◽  
Shih-Hsien Kuo ◽  
Fan-Hao Chou ◽  
Li-Li Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Neutral Type ◽  
First Trimester ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
Correlational Research ◽  
Individualized Care ◽  
First Trimester Of Pregnancy ◽  
Southern Taiwan ◽  
Constitutional Changes

The purpose of this study was to explore correlations among constitution, stress, and discomfort symptoms during the first trimester of pregnancy. We adopted a descriptive and correlational research design and collected data from 261 pregnant women during their first trimester in southern Taiwan using structured questionnaires. Results showed that (1) stress was significantly and positively correlated with Yang-Xu, Yin-Xu, and Tan-Shi-Yu-Zhi constitutions, respectively; (2) Yin-Xu and Tan-Shi-Yu-Zhi constitutions had significant correlations with all symptoms of discomfort, while Yang-Xu had significant correlations with all symptoms of discomfort except for “running nose”; (3) Tan-Shi-Yu-Zhi constitution and stress were two indicators for “fatigue”; Tan-Shi-Yu-Zhi was the indicator for “nausea”; Yang-Xu and Yin-Xu were indicators for “frequent urination.” Our findings also indicate that stress level affects constitutional changes and that stress and constitutional change affect the incidence of discomfort. This research can help healthcare professionals observe these discomforts and provide individualized care for pregnant women, to nurture pregnant women into neutral-type constitution, minimize their levels of discomfort, and promote the health of the fetus and the mother.

scholarly journals Democratic Deviations and Constitutional Changes: The Case of Turkey

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucia Picarella
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Constitutional Reform ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
Supranational Level ◽  
Constitutional Changes ◽  
Descriptive Qualitative

Abstract This article shows through a descriptive-qualitative methodology as the recent Turkish constitutional reform is fully inserted in the context of the strong debate on the transformations of contemporary democracies. In particular, the analysis emphasizes the underlying danger of this constitutional change, because the established super-presidentialism drives a strong drift away from the consolidation / institutionalization of democracy. Our conclusions show the risk of authoritarian involution from the total centralization of powers in the hands of the leader, which will have consequences both internally, an area in which there will be a stronger radicalization, and at the supranational level, because the heavy rerouting freezes the integrationist dreams.

scholarly journals Constitutional reform processes

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewa K. Strzelecka ◽  
María Angustias Parejo
Keyword(s):  
Constitutional Reform ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
Constitutional Amendments ◽  
Mena Countries ◽  
Constitutional Reforms ◽  
Revolutionary Movements ◽  
Reform Processes ◽  
Heads Of State ◽  
The Arab Spring

This chapter analyses the constitutional reform processes that have taken place in the MENA countries since the social uprisings in 2011. The purpose of this study is to examine and compare the constitutional reform processes in order to offer key insights into these processes and to propose a typology of the dynamics of constitutional reform, and its scope in the MENA region. The aspects for analysis include procedures, consensus and dissent during the course of the constitutional process, and the content of the constitutional reforms. The emphasis is placed on the most important elements of the processes of constitutional change and of the content of the new constitutions, while paying particular attention to aspects related with the power of heads of state, the most frequently-debated reforms and the advancement of gender equality and women’s rights. The authors conclude that constitutional processes are relevant, but not determinant for democratic change, with the exception of Tunisia. The scope of the constitutional amendments has been limited and has perpetuated the dominance of the authoritarian rulers. Many of the constitutional reforms after the Arab Spring have been the product of strategies for survival by the respective regimes and were promoted ‘top-down’ through a process that, in many countries, excluded the revolutionary movements and opposition groups that were not loyal to the regime.

Institutions for Amending Constitutions

2019 ◽  
pp. 155-176
Author(s):  
Cristina Bucur ◽  
Bjørn Erik Rasch
Keyword(s):  
Research Methods ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Constitutional Amendment ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Partial Explanation ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Constitutional Changes

This chapter focuses on the link between amendment institutions and formal constitutional changes. The authors’ survey of the extensive literature on constitutional amendment procedures and their consequences for constitutional adjustment highlights the lack of agreement about key mechanisms of constitutional change. Despite the increase in the availability of data on constitutions and the continuing sophistication of research methods and measures, there is still no consensus on the extent to which amendment procedures influence the pace of formal constitutional change. The authors argue that amendment institutions provide only a partial explanation of constitutional change, which also needs to take into account a number of additional political, economic, and social factors.

Eternity and Democratic Precommitment

2021 ◽  
pp. 17-50
Author(s):  
Silvia Suteu
Keyword(s):  
Constitutional Change ◽  
Constitutional Review ◽  
Liberal Constitutionalism ◽  
The Face

This chapter examines eternity clauses as mechanisms of constitutional precommitment and as tools for defending democracy in the face of anti-democratic forces. It looks at two broad categories of eternity clauses: provisions protecting state fundamentals and provisions defending democratic pluralism. It also analyses understandings of unamendability as either merely descriptive or as preservative of a core of liberal constitutionalism by assessing the operation of eternity clauses in practice. This chapter discusses unamendable provisions as dealing in imponderables and enshrining values that need judicial specification. It shows how precommitment and militant promise are entirely dependent on other elements of the constitutional architecture, in particular constitutional review. The chapter explains how this results in court self-empowerment and unduly limiting the scope of permitted constitutional change in the name of democracy.

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