International assistance

The role of international or external support for national processes of constitution building has an instrumental impact on the design of these processes and the institutional choices that ultimately are framed in constitutions. Such a role clearly generates ambiguity considering the significance attached to national ownership and legitimacy of constitutions. Questions regarding how this role should be constructed and the principles that should act as reference points are increasingly on the international agenda. In this section, users will participate in and follow emerging discussion on best practices that can contribute to more effective international partnership for constitution building.

These matters are emerging as a priority for national and international actors in constitution building. A series of policy papers connects the dots between constitution building cooperation and other kinds of democracy and development support. This policy work also aims to build a network for a global community of practice on constitution building issues.