1932

Abstract

This article responds to a set of well-known challenges to empirical research on formal institutions in comparative politics. We focus on the case of written constitutions and discuss the scholarly utility of studying such documents in the face of four analytic and theoretical challenges. Each of these challenges, in turn, implies a set of empirical questions, for which we invoke original data to sketch a broad-brushed set of answers. The data analysis and accompanying discussion suggest a set of guidelines for how written constitutions should be deployed in comparative research designs on topics that involve political institutions.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-polisci-100720-102911
2021-05-11
2024-12-11
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/polisci/24/1/annurev-polisci-100720-102911.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-polisci-100720-102911&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

Literature Cited

  1. Aba-Namay R. 1993. The recent constitutional reform in Saudi Arabia. Int. Comp. Law Q. 42:3295–331
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Ackerman B. 2005. The Failure of the Founding Fathers: Jefferson, Marshall and the Rise of Presidential Democracy Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Amar A. 2012. America's Unwritten Constitution: The Precedents and Principles We Live By New York: Basic Books
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Anderson B. 2006. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism London: Verso. , Revis. ed..
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Arato A. 2009. Constitution-Making Under Occupation: The Case of Iraq New York: Columbia Univ. Press
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Barber NW. 2009. Laws and constitutional conventions. Law Q. Rev. 294:125
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Betz T, Cook SJ, Hollenbach FM. 2018. On the use and abuse of spatial instruments. Political Anal. 26:4474–79
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Billias GGA. 2009. American Constitutionalism Heard Round the World, 17761989: A Global Perspective New York: NYU Press
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Brennan G, Pardo GC. 1991. A reading of the Spanish Constitution 1978. Const. Political Econ. 2:153–79
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Breslin B. 2009. From Words to Worlds: Exploring Constitutional Functionality Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Brown N. 2008. Reason, interest, rationality, and passion in constitution drafting. Perspect. Politics 6:4675–89
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Carrington D. 1973. The Corsican Constitution of Pasquale Paoli (1755–1769). Engl. Hist. Rev. 88:481503
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Cheibub J, Elkins Z, Ginsburg T. 2014. Beyond presidentialism and parliamentarism. Br. J. Political Sci. 43:515–44
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Chilton A, Versteeg M. 2020. How Constitutional Rights Matter New York: Oxford Univ. Press
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Cingranelli D, Richards D 2010. The Cingranelli and Richards (CIRI) Human Rights Data Project. Human Rights Q. 32:2401–24
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Corwin ES. 1936. The constitution as instrument and as symbol. Am. Political Sci. Rev. 30:61071–85
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Dicey AV. 1960. Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution London: MacMillan
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Dippel H. 2005. Modern constitutionalism, An introduction to a history in the need of writing. Tijdschrift Rechtsgeschiedenis 73:153–70
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Dixon R, Stone A 2018. The Invisible Constitution in Comparative Perspective Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Doyle O. 2017. Informal constitutional change. Buffalo Law Rev 61:1021–38
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Elkins Z 2009. Constitutional networks. Networked Politics: Agency, Power, and Governance M Kahler 43–66 Ithaca, NY: Cornell Univ. Press
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Elkins Z, Ginsburg T, Melton J. 2009. The Endurance of National Constitutions Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Elkins Z, Ginsburg T, Melton J. 2021. Comparative Constitutions Project. Characteristics of National Constitutions [v.3.0]. https://comparativeconstitutionsproject.org/download-data/
  24. Elster J. 1995. Forces and mechanisms in the constitution-making process. Duke Law Rev 45:364–96
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Elster J. 2014. Political norms. Iyyun Jerusalem Philos. Q. 63:4759
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Elster J, Gargarella R, Naresh V, Rasch BE 2018. Constituent Assemblies Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Eskridge W, Ferejohn J. 2001. Super-statutes. Duke Law J 50:51215–76
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Fish MS, Kroenig M. 2009. The Handbook of National Legislatures: A Global Survey New York: Cambridge Univ. Press
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Frosini JO. 2012. Constitutional Preambles at a Crossroads Between Politics and Law Santarcangelo di Romagna, Italy: Maggioli Ed.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Gargarella R. 2013. Latin American Constitutionalism, 18102010: The Engine Room of the Constitution Oxford, UK: Oxford Univ. Press
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Ginsburg T, Blount J, Elkins Z. 2009. Does the process of constitution-making matter?. Annu. Rev. Law Soc. Sci. 5:201–24
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Go J. 2003. A globalizing constitutionalism? Views from the postcolony. Int. Sociol. 18:171–95
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Grey T. 1975. Do we have an unwritten constitution?. Stanford Law Rev 27:703–18
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Gwartney J, Lawson R, Hall JC, Grubel H, de Haan J et al. 2009. Economic Freedom of the World: 2009 Annual Report Vancouver, BC: Frasier Inst https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/EconomicFreedomoftheWorld2009.pdf
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Harris WF II. 1993. The Interpretable Constitution Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Hart HLA. 1960. The Concept of Law Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Horwill HW. 1925. The Usages of the American Constitution London: Oxford Univ. Press
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Jacobsohn GJ. 2010. Constitutional Identity Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press
    [Google Scholar]
  39. King A. 2007. The British Constitution New York: Oxford Univ. Press
    [Google Scholar]
  40. King J. 2013. Constitutions as mission statements. Social and Political Foundations of Constitutions DJ Galligan, M Versteeg 73–102 Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Krishnamurthy V. 2009. Colonial cousins: explaining India and Canada's unwritten constitutional principles. Yale J. Int. Law 34:174–239
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Krucken G, Drori GS 2009. World Society: The Writings of John W. Meyer New York: Oxford Univ. Press
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Landau D, Lerner H 2019. Comparative Constitution-Making Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Law DS. 2016. Constitutional archetypes. Texas Law Rev 95:153–253
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Law DS 2019. Constitutional dialects: the language of transnational legal orders. Constitution-Making and Transnational Legal Order G Shaffer, T Ginsburg, T Halliday 110–55 New York: Cambridge Univ. Press
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Law DS, Versteeg M. 2011. The evolution and ideology of global constitutionalism. Calif. Law Rev. 99:51163–257
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Law DS, Versteeg M. 2013. Sham constitutions. Calif. Law Rev. 101:4863–952
    [Google Scholar]
  48. Law DS, Whalen R. 2020. Constitutional amendments versus constitutional replacements: an empirical perspective. Routledge Handbook of Comparative Constitutional Change X Contiades, A Fotiadou 74–100 Abingdon, UK: Routledge
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Llewellyn K. 1934. The constitution as an institution. Columbia Law Rev 34:1–40
    [Google Scholar]
  50. Melton J, Elkins Z, Ginsburg T, Leetaru K. 2013. On the interpretability of law: lessons from the decoding of national constitutions. Br. J. Political Sci. 43:2399–423
    [Google Scholar]
  51. Michelman F 1998. Constitutional authorship. Constitutionalism: Philosophical Foundations L Alexander 64–98 New York: Cambridge Univ. Press
    [Google Scholar]
  52. Miller L 2010. Framing the State in Times of Transition: Case Studies in Constitution-Making Washington, DC: US Inst. Peace Press
    [Google Scholar]
  53. Mittal S, Weingast B. 2013. Self-enforcing constitutions: with an application to democratic stability in America's first century. J. Law Econ. Organ. 29:2278–302
    [Google Scholar]
  54. Munro WB. 1930. The Makers of the Unwritten Constitution New York: Macmillan
    [Google Scholar]
  55. Murphy WF 1993. Constitutions, constitutionalism and democracy. Constitutionalism and Democracy: Transitions in the Contemporary World D Greenberg, SN Katz, SC Wheatley 3–25 New York: Oxford Univ. Press
    [Google Scholar]
  56. Murphy WF. 2007. Constitutional Democracy: Creating and Maintaining a Just Political Order Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press
    [Google Scholar]
  57. North DC, Weingast BR. 1989. Constitutions and commitment: the evolution of institutions governing public choice in seventeenth-century England. J. Econ. Hist. 49:4803–32
    [Google Scholar]
  58. Palmer M. 2006. What is New Zealand's constitution and who interprets it? Constitutional realism and the importance of public office-holders. Public Law Rev 17:133–62
    [Google Scholar]
  59. Perry B. 1991. Constitutional Johnny Appleseeds: American consultants and the drafting of foreign constitutions. Albany Law Rev 55:767–92
    [Google Scholar]
  60. Persson T, Tabellini G. 2003. The Economic Effects of Constitutions Boston: MIT Press
    [Google Scholar]
  61. Quigley H. 1924. The constitution of China. Am. Political Sci. Rev. 18:2346–50
    [Google Scholar]
  62. Rockmore DN, Fang C, Foti NJ, Ginsburg T, Krakauer DC. 2018. The cultural evolution of national constitutions. J. Assoc. Inform. Sci. Technol. 69:3483–94
    [Google Scholar]
  63. Rubenfeld J. 2001. The new unwritten constitution. Duke Law J 51:289–305
    [Google Scholar]
  64. Rutherford A, Lupu Y, Cebrian M, Rahwan I, LeVeck B, Garcia-Herranz M. 2018. Inferring mechanisms for global constitutional progress. Nat. Hum. Behav. 2:592–99
    [Google Scholar]
  65. Sartori G. 1970. Concept misformation in comparative politics. Am. Political Sci. Rev. 64:1033–53
    [Google Scholar]
  66. Shepard WJ. 1920. The new German constitution. Am. Political Sci. Rev. 14:134–52
    [Google Scholar]
  67. Siegel R. 2020. The nineteenth amendment and the democratization of the family. Yale Law J. Forum 129:45095
    [Google Scholar]
  68. Strauss D. 2001. The irrelevance of constitutional amendments. Harvard Law Rev 114:51457–505
    [Google Scholar]
  69. Strauss D. 2010. The Living Constitution New York: Oxford Univ. Press
    [Google Scholar]
  70. Tiedeman CG. 1890. The Unwritten Constitution of the United States New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons
    [Google Scholar]
  71. Tribe LH. 2008. The Invisible Constitution New York: Oxford Univ. Press
    [Google Scholar]
  72. Voermans W, Stremler M, Cliteur P. 2017. Constitutional Preambles: A Comparative Analysis Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar
    [Google Scholar]
  73. Young EA. 2007. The constitution outside the Constitution. Yale Law J 117:408–73
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-polisci-100720-102911
Loading
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-polisci-100720-102911
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Review Article
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error