Building constitutions that work
“This report will help make sure that local people really own their system of government, building democratic participation”
The Constitution Transformation Network connects research, practice and advice to support constitutional governance and constitution making in a rapidly changing, globalised world.
Why this matters
In most of these cases, other countries and outside organisations offer support, by way of advice or logistical assistance. In many cases, however, the results of constitution making are disappointing. Some processes never reach a conclusion. In many new constitutions, the quality of governance remains poor.
Increasing, further changes or abrogation of new constitutions takes the country back to an authoritarian system. These results are not soley due to the quality of external support, but it is part of the story.
More than two thirds of the Constitutions of the world have been changed in the last 30 years, usually as part of peace making, transition from authoritarianism, or both.
Our impact
Professor Cheryl Saunders and her colleagues at the Constitution Transformation Network work on many cutting-edge constitutional law projects in our region and globally, often with partners, including International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA).
They are a well-respected source of advice when developing constitutions in the context of post-conflict democratic transition.
A recent project examined what works and what doesn't with external support to constitution building processes. It was undertaken by an interdisciplinary team, lead by Professor Saunders, under the auspices of Verian Global at the request of the Swedish Group for Aid Studies (EBA), which evaluates Swedish official development assistance.
The report from the project, which has been accepted by the EBA, identifies four factors that have a bearing of the effectiveness of external support:
- ownership of the new constitutional arrangements by the leaders and people of the country concerned
- the value that external support adds
- the quality of external support
- the weight accorded to it
Equally importantly, the report explains why these factors matter and the challenges that external support needs to overcome.
This work can be expected to have an impact on how Sweden provides development support. It will inform other donor states and institutions that contributed to the research, including Australia, in their support of constitution building and peace-making projects around the world.
