The Veil of Participation: Citizens and Political Parties in Constitution-Making Processes

Description

Public participation is a vital part of constitution-making processes around the world, but we know very little about the extent to which participation affects constitutional texts. In this book, Alexander Hudson offers a systematic measurement of the impact of public participation in three much-cited cases - Brazil, South Africa, and Iceland - and introduces a theory of party-mediated public participation. He argues that public participation has limited potential to affect the constitutional text but that the effectiveness of participation varies with the political context. Party strength is the key factor, as strong political parties are unlikely to incorporate public input, while weaker parties are comparatively more responsive to public input. This party-mediation thesis fundamentally challenges the contemporary consensus on the design of constitution-making processes and places new emphasis on the role of political parties. Cover Half-title Page Series page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents List of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgments 1 Introduction 1.1 The Public Face of Constitution-Making 1.2 Why Is a Study of Participation Important? 1.3 What This Book Does 1.4 Outline of the Book 2 Theoretical Foundations of Participatory Drafting 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Party-Mediated Political Participation 2.3 Constitution-Making and Political Parties 2.4 Questions of Legitimacy and Efficacy 2.5 The Theory Revisited 3 South Africa: Party Domination 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Historical Background 3.3 Drafting the Final Constitution 3.4 Analysis of the Drafting Process 3.5 In the Words of the Drafters 3.6 The Constitutional Principles as a Limiting Factor 3.7 Conclusion 4 Brazil: Citizen Entrepreneurs 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Historical Background 4.3 The National Constituent Assembly 4.4 Popular Participation – Individuals 4.5 Popular Participation – Groups 4.6 Polling Data 4.7 In the Words of the Drafters 4.8 A Natural Experiment in Brazil: The Afonso Arinos Draft 4.9 Conclusion 5 Iceland: Citizen Drafters 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Impetus for Reform: Economic Crisis 5.3 The Drafting Process in Iceland 5.4 Measuring Participation 5.5 Data and Methods 5.6 Assessing the Impact of Participation 5.7 Statistical Analysis 5.8 Why Did the Drafters Give Effect to Proposals from the Public? 5.9 A Failed Constitutional Revolution? 5.10 Conclusion 6 Cross-National Analysis 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Comprehensive Cross-National Analysis 6.3 Qualitative Assessment of Selected Cases 6.4 Conclusion 7 Public Participation in Constitution-Making Reconsidered 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Reviewing the Evidence 7.3 Broader Implications 7.4 Guidance for Constitution Makers Appendices Bibliography Index