Annual Review Of Constitution Building 2019

International IDEA’s Annual Review of Constitution-Building provides a retrospective account of constitutional transitions around the world, the issues that drive them, and their implications for national and international politics. This seventh edition covers events in 2019. Because this year marks the end of a decade, the first chapter summarizes a series of discussions International IDEA held with international experts and scholars throughout the year on the evolution of constitution-building over the past 10 years. The edition also includes chapters on challenges with sustaining constitutional pacts in Guinea and Zimbabwe; public participation in constitutional reform processes in The Gambia and Mongolia; constitutional change and subnational governance arrangements in Tobago and the Autonomous Region of Bangsamoro; the complexities of federal systems and negotiations on federal state structures in Myanmar and South Sudan; and the drawing (and redrawing) of the federal map in South Sudan and India. Writing at the mid-way point between the instant reactions of the blogosphere and academic analyses that follow several years later, the authors provide accounts of ongoing political transitions, the major constitutional issues they give rise to, and the implications of these processes for democracy, the rule of law and peace.

International IDEA’s Annual Review of Constitution-Building provides a retrospective account of constitutional transitions, the issues that drive them and their implications for national and international politics. This sixth edition covers events in 2018 and includes articles on constitutional events in several regions of the world where International IDEA is active. These are loosely themed around the challenges of cooperation and coordination in constitutional politics—between majorities and minorities (in Burundi and Comoros, in Bolivia and Colombia, and in the Commonwealth Caribbean), between coalition partners in constitutional change processes (in Malaysia, the Maldives and Sri Lanka) and between external actors (in Libya, South Sudan and Yemen). Writing at the mid-way point between the instant reactions of the blogosphere and academic analyses that follow several years later, the authors provide accounts of ongoing political transitions, the major constitutional issues they give rise to and the implications of these processes for democracy, the rule of law and peace.

Public participation has become a core element of modern constitution-building. Robust participation is credited with a range of benefits—from improving individual behaviours and attitudes to democracy to shaping elite bargaining dynamics, improving constitutional content, and strengthening outcomes for democracy and peace. Yet it is not well understood whether and how public participation can achieve these ends. Much of what we think we know about participatory constitution-building remains theoretical. No two processes are alike, and there is no agreed definition of what constitutes a ‘participatory process’. Yet national decision-makers must contend with the key question: What does a robust participation process look like for a particular country, at a particular time, in a particular context? What considerations and principles can be derived from comparative experience to guide decisions? This Policy Paper unpacks the forms and functions of public participation across different stages of the constitution-building process and considers the ways in which public engagement can influence the dynamics of the process, including political negotiations.

This book provides a supportive lending hand to researchers of constitutional law worldwide about the constitutional law of Bangladesh. Moreover, this book discusses the evolution and development of the constitutional law of Bangladesh over 50 years from its embryonic stage with reference to comparative constitutional law. This book is a very useful resource for the comparative constitutional researchers as readers will be able to easily interpret the constitutional law of Bangladesh from national, regional and global constitutional law perspectives. This book celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the Constitution, the first of its kind to portray the journey of constitutionalism in Bangladesh comprehensively with intellectual observations and palatable recommendations for improvement. This book looks back to the constituent assembly debates, intention of the constitution makers and how have those dreams and aspirations have come into realities, what goals have been achieved, what caused some failures, and what should be its future directions. At such a momentous point in history, it is imperative that its native and foreign constitutional authoritative voices scholarly assess the constitutional design, understand the reasons for its successes and occasional failures, and ventilate their views towards its progressive development to elevate it to a new height in the 21st century and beyond. The book chapters discuss not only the text of the constitution and some judicial precedents, rather involve in a much larger task of unveiling the interpretative approach of the Constitution from a comparative constitutional law perspective. This book shall project the future roadmap for the journey of constitutionalism in Bangladesh throughout all chapters offering policy recommendations for the revision of the Constitution.

Since its first edition in 2010, the OECD Development Centre's Perspectives on Global Development report has tracked development trends and policy priorities in developing countries. This new report examines the phenomenon of discontent. Between the global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, discontent surged around the world.

The Gambia opened a new chapter in her history after 22 years of authoritarian rule under former dictator Yahya Jammeh, heralding the promise of a ‘New Gambia.’ The country is at a critical juncture in its transition from Jammeh’s autocratic rule to a fully-fledged democracy. The ambitious transitional processes include the Truth Reparations and Reconciliation Commission to create an official record of past abuses and crimes, the Constitutional Review Commission to draft a new Constitution, and the permanent National Human Rights Commission to build a human rights culture. The Gambia in transition: Towards a new constitutional order is a diverse collection of timely, rigorous, and insightful essays on human rights, constitutional reform, rule of law and democratic governance. It serves as an important reference for academics, policymakers, researchers, civil society organisations, human rights defenders, learners, and the public at large.

Countries often amend their constitutions or enact new ones following major political events, such as the founding of newly independent states, the fall of an authoritarian regime or the end of violent conflict. Significant constitutional reform at a crucial moment is often a high-stakes process because a constitution regulates access to public power and resources among different groups. While disagreements over divisive topics are likely and even inherent to constitution-making, they may also result in a serious deadlock when stakeholders are unable to reach agreement. A prolonged deadlock can delay or even derail the whole reform process. In this context, it may be advisable to create incentives that can help parties to the negotiations overcome divergence and resolve deadlocks should they occur. This Constitution Brief focuses on strategies and mechanisms for breaking a deadlock in constitutional negotiations conducted in an environment of competitive democratic politics.

This volume examines and analyses electoral politics in Sri Lanka through the theoretical framework of manipulation. The following questions guided the study: how do political actors manipulate elections, and what are the salient features of electoral politics in Sri Lanka? Primary and secondary data formed the basis of the analysis, examining eight presidential elections. The research findings indicated that Sri Lankan governments, political parties and political leaders have taken advantage of six types of electoral manipulation, including constitutional tinkering, field fixing, time fixing, vote suppression, process manipulation and resource manipulation. Through a close examination of eight presidential elections, research carried out for the volume found that elections are often associated with violence; presidential elections are mainly a majoritarian affair in which minority communities play only a marginal role; there is a significant gender imbalance, as women’s participation in the electoral process is very limited; despite the presence of a large number of candidates contesting the election, it always remains a two-way race; and amid extensive manipulation and other problems, voter participation tends to be high. This volume will be a valuable resource for students, academics and researchers who focus on democracy, good governance, electoral studies and South Asian politics and history, and will enhance the conceptual foundation of democracy advocates and activists.