Almost all states have gone through the process of drafting and approving a formal constitution text at least once. Indeed, since the Philadelphia Convention of 1789, over a thousand constitutions have been drafted worldwide. This number increases substantially when we take into consideration sub-national constitutions.
Drafting a constitution is a central facet of most substantial political transformations and serves a variety of purposes. A new constitution can be the hallmark of independence from a country’s former colonial masters; it can be the product of violent, economic, or societal upheavals; it can signify a regime change, be it pro- or even anti-democratic in nature; and it can be born out of the wish to address contemporary challenges, either of a local or a global character.
Many questions arise during the process of constitution-making and remaking, including (but certainly not limited to):
With this interest group, we aim to bring together, under the umbrella of ICON-S, comparative constitutional studies scholars from multiple disciplines interested in discussing and collaborating on issues related to constitution making.
We will use the interest group both to help build a network of scholars interested in constitution-making and to provide vehicles for collaboration. Over the next three years, we anticipate this might include:
Maartje De Visser, Singapore Management University, mdevisser@smu.edu.sg
Mariana Velasco-Rivera, Maynooth University, Mariana.VelascoRivera@mu.ie
Elisabeth Perham, University of New South Wales, e.perham@unsw.edu.au
Berihun Gebeye, University College London, b.gebeye@ucl.ac.uk
Amal Sethi, University of Hamburg, amal.sethi@uni-hamburg.de
The interest group will have its next meeting at the 2024 Annual Conference in Madrid where it has also put together 5 panels.
To join the interest group, contact the convenors. You can sign up for our mailing list here.
