Redrafting Constitutions in Democratic Regimes
Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives

This book analyzes how replacing democratic constitutions may contribute to the improvement or erosion of democratic principles and practices.

Gabriel L. Negretto (Edited by)

9781108813778, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 7 July 2022

263 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.4 cm, 0.39 kg

'… this book will be an important reference in relevant fields for years to come. It is a must-read for anyone interested in constitutional redrafting and general institutional reform.- not only scholars and post-graduate students, but also policy makers, advisors, and anyone with a need for a good compendium of theoretical and comparative reflections in the topic. The contributions in Negretto's excellently edited volume couldn't be timelier: this is a terrific book to have on hand to read during these times of change.' Raul A. Sanchez-Urribarri, Law and Politics Book Review

Growing public discontent with the performance and quality of many contemporary democracies makes them vulnerable to popular pressures to profoundly transform or replace their constitutions. However, there is little systematic academic discussion on the legal and political challenges that these events pose to democratic principles and practices. This book, a collaborative effort by legal scholars and political scientists, analyzes these challenges from an interdisciplinary and comparative perspective. It fills a theoretical vacuum by examining the possibility that constitutions might be replaced within a democratic regime, while exploring the conditions under which these processes are more compatible or less compatible with democratic principles. It also calls attention to the real-world political importance of the phenomenon, because recent episodes of constitutional redrafting in countries including Kenya, Poland, Venezuela and Hungary suggest that some aspects of these processes may be associated with either the improvement or the gradual erosion of democracy.

1. Introduction: new constitutions in democratic regimes Gabriel L. Negretto
Part I. Conceptual, Normative, and Empirical Issues: 2. Constitution making through law Joel Colón-Ríos
3. Expanding revision clauses in democratic constitutions William Partlett
4. Courts and constitution making in democratic regimes: a contextual approach David Landau
5. Replacing constitutions in democratic regimes: elite cooperation and citizen participation Gabriel L. Negretto
Part II. Case Studies: 6. The difference power diffusion makes: explaining divergent outcomes in Colombia (1990–1991) and Venezuela (1998–1999) Ana María Bejarano and Renata Segura
7. Procedural rules and majoritarian politics in Poland (1993–1997) and Hungary (2010–2011) Gabriel L. Negretto and Solongo Wandan
8. Thailand's democratic moment: the 1997 constitution Tom Ginsburg
9. Political elites and the people: Kenya's decade-long constitution-making process Christina Murray
10. The anatomy of constitution making: from Denmark in 1849 to Iceland in 2017 Thorvaldur Gylfason.

Subject Areas: Constitutional & administrative law [LND], Public international law [LBB], Comparative law [LAM], Law [L], Comparative politics [JPB]