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This book provides a brief intellectual and constitutional history of the Article V amending process from the Imperial Crisis until the present and shows Article V to be a vital part of the Constitutional architecture. Furthermore, it defends Article V from critics who claim it is too difficult, undemocratic, and too formal; and it makes the case for Article V as the sole legitimate form of Constitutional amendment

In the post-Soviet era, there are only five socialist/communist regimes left in the world. However, there is little writing that considers these regime structures and the role constitutionalism plays in maintenance and development of the state and institutions of these countries. This text examines the effects of change across these constitutions.

"This book examines the subject of constitutional unamendability from comparative, doctrinal, empirical, historical, political and theoretical perspectives. It explores and evaluates the legitimacy of unamendability in the various forms that exist in constitutional democracies. Modern constitutionalism has given rise to a paradox: can a constitutional amendment be unconstitutional? Today it is normatively contested but descriptively undeniable that a constitutional amendment--one that respects the formal procedures of textual alteration laid down in the constitutional text--may be invalidated for violating either a written or unwritten constitutional norm. This phenomenon of an unconstitutional constitutional amendment traces its political foundations to France and the United States, its doctrinal origins to Germany, and it has migrated in some form to all corners of the democratic world. One can trace this paradox to the concept of constitutional unamendability. Constitutional unamendability can be understood as a formally entrenched provision(s) or an informally entrenched norm that prohibits an alteration or violation of that provision or norm. An unamendable constitutional provision is impervious to formal amendment, even with supermajority or even unanimous agreement from the political actors whose consent is required to alter the constitutional text. Whether or not it is enforced, and also by whom, this prohibition raises fundamental questions implicating sovereignty, legitimacy, democracy and the rule of law."--

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- Introduction -- CHAPTER I. Europeans and the New World -- CHAPTER II. The Articles of Confederation -- CHAPTER III. The Constitution and American Indian Tribes -- CHAPTER IV. The Relationship of Indian Tribes to the Three Branches of the Federal Government -- CHAPTER V. The Historical Development of Constitutional Clauses -- CHAPTER VI. The Constitutional Amendments -- CHAPTER VII. The Later Constitutional Amendments -- CHAPTER VIII. The Status of Indian Tribes and the Constitution -- Notes -- References -- Index of Cases -- General Index

This volume brings together essays by many of the leading scholars of comparative constitutional design from many perspectives to collectively assess what we know - and do not know - about the design process as well as particular institutional choices concerning executive power, constitutional amendment processes and many other issues. Bringing together positive and normative analysis, this volume provides state of the art in a field of growing theoretical and practical importance

1. Constitutional change engineering / Xenophon Contiades -- 2. Constitutional change in Austria / Manfred Stelzer -- 3. The process of constitutional amendment in Belgium / Christian Behrendt -- 4. Constitutional change and constitutional amendment : a Canadian conundrum / Allan C. Hutchinson -- 5. Formal and informal methods of constitutional change in Denmark / Helle Krunke -- 6. Constitutional amendment in Finland / Tuomas Ojanen -- 7. Constitutional amendment in France / Wanda Mastor and Liliane Icher -- 8. Constitutional amendments and constitutional changes in Germany / Markus Kotzur -- 9. Constitutional change in Greece / Xenophon Contiades and Ioannis Tassopoulos -- 10/ Constitutional amendment in Ireland / Fiona De Londras and David Gwynn Morgan -- 11. Constitutional revision in Italy : a marginal instrument for constitutional change / Tania Groppi -- 12. Constitutional amendment in Luxembourg / Jorg Gerkrath -- 13. The constitutional revision process in the Netherlands : sensible security valve or cause of constitutional paralysis? / Wim J.M. Voermans -- 14. The Portuguese constitution of 1976 : half-life and decay / Jonatas E.M. Machado -- 15. Constitutional change in Spain / Abraham Barrero Ortega and Irene Sobrino Guijarro -- 16. Constitutional amendment in Sweden / Lars-Goran Malmberg -- 17. Constitutional revision : the case of Switzerland / Thomas Fleiner -- 18. Constitutional amendment in the United Kingdom / Robert Blackburn -- 19. Constitutional revision in the United States of America / John R. Vile -- 20. Models of constitutional change / Xenophon Contiades and Alkmene Fotiadou.

"A comparative study of constitutional revolutions, with analysis of the concept as applied in four jurisdictions: Hungary, Germany, India, and Israel. Among the themes developed here: Judicial decisions may bring about revolutionary changes to the constitutional order; revolutions, at least in the constitutional domain, often occur without violence; formal constitutional amendments can fundamentally transform the constitutional order, effectively renewing it; popular involvement in turning-point moments in the constitutional lives of a nation is critical for achieving democratic legitimacy"--