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constitution making (research handbook) [9eed7ec0]

Tags: Williams - Research Handbook on Post-Conflict Statebuilding

1. Consitution Making

1.1. Constitution Writing in Egypt

  • 2 constitutions: 2012 and 2014

  • both lead by the intermim military government (SCAZ)

    • low legitimacy
  • 2012 -> egyptian parliment selected members to assembly
  • 2014 -> rewrite due to problems of 2012, 2014 did not include islamists in parliment

1.2. Consitution Writing in Tunisia

  • Written by the National Constituiant Assembly

    • Body had the power to adopt
    • public could vote on the members
    • first draft was adoped by a 2/3rds vote
  • More inclusive over multiple drafts that were relased to the public

1.3. Constitution Writing in Conflict Zones

  • How to permit public engagement with security issues?
  • How to prevent actors from co-opting the process?

1.3.1. libya

  • Fissures between the National Transitional Council (NTC), the General National Congress (GNC), and Constitutional Drafting Assembly (CDA)
  • Eternal problem: who gets a seat?
  • UN largely helped to push it along, despite many issues such as the appelate court ruling against the CDA and various boycotts

1.3.2. yemen

  • National Dialogue Conference in 2013 with the post GCC mediated transition

1.4. Multiethnic Governence

  • Two main patterns

    • Consociationalism -> accomdation via guarenteed representation
    • Centripedalism -> moderation of ethnic group views

1.4.1. Consociationalism

  • Protects specific ethnic groups from harm
  • usually grants some combo of autonomy, veto or partial veto, political representation
  • "A peace treaty extended to government"
  • Issue: sometimes accomodates ethnic extremists

1.4.2. Centripedalism

  • Rewards moderate behavior

  • Mechanisms such as:

    • alternative vote
    • candidates requiring plurality of vote across ethnically diverse territories

1.4.3. Models

1.4.3.1. Ethnic federalism
  • Form of consoctionalism
  • questioned whether this actually exasterbates or ameloriates confict

  • usually has some of:

    • protection for cultural and linguistic identity - south africa
    • ethnic based "self rule" - ethopia
    • subnational constiutions - iraq
    • political and legal autonomy - KRG/iraqi kurdistan, ethopia

    • political decentralization

      • federal/unitary/localist

        • iraq - localist due to kurds
        • kosovo - local gov prevents the partition of the state along ethnic lines
1.4.3.2. libya
  • no centripedal or consociationalism
  • one big unitary state envisioned
1.4.3.3. yemen
  • some consociational features
  • de facto ethic federation

1.4.4. Human Rights

  • Egypt and Tunisia both explictly refer to human rights law
  • Tunisia has actual mechanisms to enforce

1.4.5. Enforcement

  • Constitutions lack legitimacy if not enforced
  • Concept of "Abusive Constituionalism" - Use of mechanisms of constitutionalism to undermine democracy
1.4.5.1. Egypt
  • no consitutional court
1.4.5.2. tunisia
  • constituional court
  • multiiple new comissions

1.4.6. Conclusion

  • constituion making in conflict make be the norm
  • there must be a state as a prereq