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Robinson Woodward-Burns— The federal framers signed the Constitution in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787. The following July 4, Philadelphians celebrated the Constitution's ratification with a mile-long "Grand Federal Procession," led... READ MORE
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This chapter analyse the different constitutional reform processes that have taken place in the Maghreb (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia) and the Middle East (Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Yemen, Oman and Bahrain) since the uprisings in 2011. The purpose of this study is to examine and compare the latest constitutional reform processes in the aforementioned nine countries in order to offer key insights into these processes and to propose a typology of the dynamics of constitutional reform, and its scope in the Arab world. The aspects for analysis include procedures, consensus and dissent during the course of the constitutional process, and the content of the constitutional reforms. The emphasis is placed on the most important elements of the processes of constitutional change and of the content of the new constitutions, while paying particular attention to aspects related with the power of heads of state, the most frequently-debated reforms and the advancement of gender equality and women's rights. ; En este capítulo se analizan los diferentes procesos de las reformas constitucionales que se han producido en el Magreb (Argelia, Marruecos y Túnez) y en el Oriente Medio (Egipto, Jordania, Siria, Yemen, Omán y Bahrein) tras las revueltas de 2011. El propósito de este trabajo es conocer y comparar los últimos procesos de reforma constitucional en los diez países mencionados con el objetivo de ofrecer las claves explicativas de estos procesos y proponer una tipología de las dinámicas de reforma constitucional y de su alcance en el mundo árabe. Las dimensiones de análisis incluyen los procedimientos (las instituciones y las normas), el consenso y el disenso a lo largo del proceso constitucional y el contenido de dichas reformas constitucionales (dispositivos democráticos y dispositivos autoritarios). El énfasis se pone en los elementos más relevantes de los procesos de cambio constitucional y de los contenidos de las nuevas constituciones, prestando una atención particular a los aspectos relacionados con el poder de los jefes de Estado, las reformas más debatidas y las mejoras concedidas a las mujeres, siendo éste uno de los grupos principales del movimiento pro-democrático en las revueltas árabes.

Over seventy years ago it would have seemed inconceivable in the aftermath of a calamitous war that a complete reorientation of Japan into a pacifist society, modeled on Western principles of individual rights and democracy, would succeed in upending a deeply entrenched political order with roots dating back centuries. The post-war Japanese constitution lies at the heart of this transformation. Drafted, negotiated and promulgated a mere fourteen months after Japan's formal surrender, it has remained a model of stability amidst transformational changes in the domestic and international political landscape. In the seventy-plus years since its adoption, it has not been amended once.

The Stavisky affair in France was, it would now seem, one of those national crises with which students of French politics are familiar. In cases of the kind, a chronic condition becomes acute. A latent anti-democratic sentiment and a dormant antiparliamentary movement appear to become suddenly aroused. A concatenation of apparently superficial circumstances causes an emergency to exist.The many persons who, like M. Charles Benoist for example, have for a long time insisted that the inevitable ultimate outcome for a system suffering from a chronic condition marked by periodic crises must be revolution, dictatorship, or reform seemed in February of 1934 to be supported by unusually important facts. In conditions such that anticipation of revolution or dictatorship was prevalent on an exceedingly large scale, M. Doumergue assumed power, as is well known, with the definite understanding that he would direct his efforts seriously and unconditionally towards reform.