Constitutional Making Process

In 2014, Tunisia’s National Constituent Assembly (NCA) almost unanimously approved the country’s first democratic constitution despite significant identity-based divisions. Drawing on the Tunisian case, the article explores the role of an inclusive constitution-making process in fostering constitutional agreement during democratization. Emerging studies that link different process modalities to democracy have so far brought only limited illumination to how inclusive processes matter, nor were these propositions systematically tested. Using process tracing, and building on original interviews gathered in Tunisia between 2014 and 2020, this article traces a causal mechanism whereby an inclusive constitution-making process allowed for a transformation of interpersonal relationships between political rivals. It demonstrates that more than two years of regular interactions allowed NCA deputies to shatter some of the prejudices that initially separated especially Islamist and non-Islamist partisans and develop cross-partisan ties, thus facilitating constitutional negotiations. However, I argue that the way these transformations contributed to constitutional settlement is more subtle than existing theories envisaged, and suggest alternative explanations. The article contributes to the debate about constitution-making processes by unpacking the understudied concept of partisan inclusion and applying it empirically to trace its effects on constitutional agreement, bringing precision and nuance to current assumptions about its benefits.

Tanto en la teoría política como constitucional, la abrumadora mayoría de los análisis sobre la creación de constituciones toma como perspectiva la idea de un nuevo comienzo político, sea que refiera a la revolución que funda el primer gobierno republicano en un país, o a la transición de un régimen autoritario a uno democrático. Sin embargo, es posible que un proceso constituyente irrumpa dentro de un orden democrático ya constituido. Esto puede ocurrir porque aspectos básicos de la constitución vigente se han tornado disfuncionales en una coyuntura histórica dada o porque la sociedad ha experimentado cambios que hacen cuestionable el origen y la orientación política del texto constitucional.

The empirical evidences of constitution-making conducted by the United Nations (UN) represent a significant challenge to contemporary constitutional law and to the deeper tradition of modern constitutionalism.  By incorporating the ideals that sustain democracy to the UN there was a change of perspective as to its role: the political-juridical structuring of a nation in turmoil. This paper discusses the pre-constituent and constituent stages of the constitutional assistance processes developed by the UN in states that have democratization needs. The focus of the discussion relates to the possibilities and limitations of such processes, led by the UN as an international institutional authority with the aim of being responsible for the appeasement of large areas of turmoil. Whether in the pre-constituent phase, or in the constituent phase, we are addressing political-legal processes in which a global international organization interferes in the adoption or reform of a constitution by a national state. The fact reveals, firstly, the political, economic and social fragility of certain parts of the world - subject to fratricidal disputes that include the violence and the subjection of considerable parcels of their populations. Secondly, the fact reveals the difficulty that the global international system encounters in positioning itself adequately in the face of the problem without the marks of colonization. The problematization, from the subject of study, adopts a dogmatic profile and is promoted through an interdisciplinary approach, guided by the critical-dialectical model. It was undertaken, during the research of qualitative data collected from the real events, with the objective of explaining, exploring and describing current phenomena inserted in the analyzed context. Thus, the research is based in the following elements: doctrine and official documentation issued by the United Nations.

KEYWORDS: United Nations. Constitutionmaking
processes. Pre-constituent phase.
Constituent phase.

The empirical experience of constitution-making carried out by UN in countries like East Timor, the Republic of Haiti, Sudan, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Bosnia, Nepal, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Republic of Iraq demonstrate that such practices, although for common purposes, that is, redemocratization, are in evolutionary process and in need of improvement, whether they are in the pre-constituent, constituent or post-constituent processes. The Charter forged under the auspices of the UN is indicative of intentions, from the moment it applies a theoretical-abstract model of constitutionalism which is in tune with the transition  and transformation  categories of constitutionalism.
This intervention shows the difficulties which different social realities present, such as promoting popular participation, as well as a growing westernization, meaning that too much international influence can be detrimental to the constitutional process and content.

The present work aimed at verifying the institutional ability of United Nations (UN) to contribute to the generation of a legitimate order in those countries passing through stages of redemocratization from the perspective how it undertakes the constitution-making process. The research was made from a path, wich comprises the democracy, the democratization, the analysis of transitional constitutionalism, transformative constitutionalism and democratic constitutionalism, and the theoretical and empirical framework in the field of consolidating democracy and creation of a constitution by UN view. Determined these assumptions, the theoretical dimension in the constitution-making process that the UN can promote is, in theory, a unique building architecture, with capability to social and human development support. This dimension aligns itself with theoretical and abstract concepts of the democratic, transformative and transitional constitutionalisms, once it invests in the potential of modifying a policy of segregation status for the implementation of an evolutionary social reality scenario in which it occurs. It is noticed that the displacement of the concepts, created by the UN to a country that is going through a political transition process, requires primarily a tune with the reality in which they focus, once that the research revealed a high potential to generate a illegitimate constitutional charter. Finally, transition constitutionalism and transformative constitutionalism are able to find answers to the forging of a legitimate and democratic constitution, because they are enablers of the formation of the collective will. Additionally, it points out for legitimization of further prognosis of fundamental charter for a finely tuned constitutional practice with the concept of democratic constitutionalism of Post and Siegel.

Keywords: Transition Constitutionalism; Transformative Constitutionalism; Democratic Constitutionalism; Constitution-Making Process by the UN

Yirminci yüzyılın son çeyreği ile yirmi birinci yüzyılın ilk çeyreğinde anayasa yapım yöntemlerinde paradigmatik bir kırılma meydana gelmiştir. Daha önce kurucu meclis sistemi içinde temsilcileri aracılığıyla anayasa yapımında söz sahibi olan bireyler, bu dönemden itibaren doğrudan anayasa yapımına katılma imkânı elde etmiştir. Artık anayasa yapımının meşruiyetini sürecin kapsayıcılığı ve bireylerin sürece ne ölçüde katıldıkları belirlemektedir. Demokratik bir anayasanın ortaya çıkabilmesi için anayasayı meydana getirecek sürecin anayasa ile muhatap olacak tüm unsurları kapsaması, sürece dahil etmesi ve sürecin sonunda bu unsurların üzerinde uzlaştığı bir metin meydana getirmesi gerekmektedir. Bu çalışmada çeşitli ülke örneklerinden yola çıkılarak anayasa yapımında ortaya çıkan bu değişimin ana hatları incelenecektir.