Issue papers

This paper is directed at the non-specialist member of the public who has the opportunity tocomment on a draft constitution proposed for adoption in their country. It assumes that itis probably worthwhile to take the trouble to respond and it suggests why and how you as acitizen might respond. It will, we hope, be especially useful to previously marginalized sectionsof society and their members, with special emphasis on women.

This paper explores the main implications for democracy building of the global challenges of the financial and economic crisis. The paper addresses three key issues for democracy building in light of the crisis:

• What lessons can be drawn for democracy building from previous financial and economic crises?
•  What are the implications of the financial crisis for democracy and in particular democracy building?
• What is the role of democracy building multilateral actors in coping with the implications of the crisis?

The experience of creating new
constitutions in Africa promises a transformation in the continent’s
landscape of governance that will render coups obsolete, says
International IDEA’s Winluck Wahiu & Paulos Tesfagiorgis.

Read more

This paper raises issues about how the Constituent Assembly will work, and how its procedureswill have an impact both on the way in which women members will be able to play a part in itswork, and on how women’s issues will dealt with in the new Constitution which it is thepurpose of the Constituent Assembly to draft. This paper does not deal with public participation– which is the topic of the next paper in the International IDEA Gender Folder. Most of theprocedures of the Constituent Assembly will be laid down in its Rules, a draft of which iscurrently before the relevant committee.

Nepal is making a new constitution, which will be a culmination of the People's Movement, and thus must be based on the aspirations of the people of Nepal. However gender-friendly Constitution may seem, it will not automatically lead to an increase in gender equality, but the process of constitution making creates an opportunity for women to make some significant progress towards the realisation of their rights. Women should not miss this chance.

This conference on constitutionalism in Africa presents us with more
evidence of the increasingly important role constitutions are playing as
crucial building blocks for democracy throughout the world. Today we
are witnesses to the fact that the nature of constitutions has changed
as have the processes in which they are developed. Indeed, today we are
observing new and broader roles for contemporary constitutions –they are
no longer just a political and legal tool, but also a tool for
enhancing democratic development.

Two important constitution-building processes currently underway in Asia
are reaching a tipping point. Last week, the Nepali people elected
members of a Constituent Assembly; while in May the Burmese people will
vote on a draft Constitution.

Read more

From Nepal to Bolivia, from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Georgia,
constitutions are increasingly becoming hot political issues. Obviously,
they are no longer merely seen as rubber stamps to confer official
dignity to established political power. More than half of the member
states of the United Nations have undergone constitutional reforms since
1974. While individually unique, these processes reflect certain global
trends.

Read more