Before constitution-making: the struggle for constitution-making design in post-revolutionary Egypt
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Before constitution‑making: the struggle for constitution‑making design in post‑revolutionary Egypt Tereza Jermanová1
© Springer Nature Limited 2019
Abstract Scholars have recently become attentive not only to the institutional designs that constitutions set up, but also to the constitutional change processes. Most authors, who are concerned with the effects the design of constitution-making processes have on outcomes, have focused on the main constitution-making bodies and their characteristics, leaving aside the question of what happens before members of constituent assemblies meet to deliberate. This article makes the point that to better understand constitution-making and its outcomes, we need to take into account the overlooked early stage of constitutional change when political actors debate and set the rules for how a constitution will be made. Building on various political science perspectives and the case study of the 2011–2012 constitutional reform in Egypt, it underscores the inevitably contentious nature of the design of a constitution-making process. It also highlights the impact that unresolved conflicts over the design can have for the agreement on a constitution between political opponents in the context of a democratic transition. In Egypt, adoption of a broadly accepted constitution was hindered by on-going struggles between Islamists and non-Islamists over their preferred constitution-making designs. The article also outlines the factors that make the settlement on constitution-making rules unlikely. Keywords Democratization · Constitution-making · Constitution · Egypt · Arab Spring
Introduction Constitutional change revolves around both content and process. Involved participants seek to produce their preferred constitutional text, while how they convene, debate, and adopt it is shaped by the constitution-making process. The way in which * Tereza Jermanová [email protected] 1
Department of Middle Eastern Studies, Charles University, Nám. Jana Palacha 2, 116 38 Prague, Czech Republic Vol.:(0123456789)
T. Jermanová
the design of that process, including the rules and procedures that frame how, when, and by whom constitutions are made impacts on diverse outcomes, has received significant attention from scholars. Yet, just like the content, the process and its design can be subject to debates and disagreements. This article makes the point that to better understand constitution-making and its outcomes, we need to move back temporarily and take into account the overlooked early phase of constitutional change when political actors debate and set the rules for how a constitution will be made. Building on various political science perspectives, practitioners’ accounts, and the case study of the 2011–2012 constitutional reform in Egypt, the article underscores the inevitably contentious nature of the design of a constitution-making process and the impact that unresolved conflicts over the design can have for the agreement on a constitution between political opponents in the context of
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