Constituent assembly

Opening session of the 2021 Chilean constitutional convention

A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected by popular vote, drawn by sortition, appointed, or some combination of these methods.[1][2] Assemblies are typically considered distinct from a regular legislature, although members of the legislature may compose a significant number or all of its members.[3] As the fundamental document constituting a state, a constitution cannot normally be modified or amended by the state's normal legislative procedures in some jurisdictions;[4] instead a constitutional convention or a constituent assembly, the rules for which are normally laid down in the constitution, must be set up. A constituent assembly is usually set up for its specific purpose, which it carries out in a relatively short time, after which the assembly is dissolved. A constituent assembly is a form of representative democracy.[5]

Unlike forms of constitution-making in which a constitution is unilaterally imposed by a sovereign lawmaker, the constituent assembly creates a constitution through "internally imposed" actions, in that members of the constituent assembly are themselves citizens, but not necessarily the political leaders, of the country for which they are creating a constitution.[6] As described by Columbia University Social Sciences Professor Jon Elster:

"Constitutions arise in a number of different ways. At the non-democratic extreme of the spectrum, we may imagine a sovereign lawgiver laying down the constitution for all later generations. At the democratic extreme, we may imagine a constituent assembly elected by universal suffrage for the sole task of writing a new constitution. And there are all sorts of intermediate arrangements."[7]

  1. ^ Oloka-Onyango, Joseph. (2001). Constitutionalism in Africa : creating opportunities, facing challenges. Fountain Publishers. ISBN 9970-02-271-7. OCLC 849441803.
  2. ^ Ghai, Yash. "The Role of Constituent Assemblies in Constitution Making" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-03-28.
  3. ^ "3.1.2 Constitutional assemblies". Constitution Making for Peace. Retrieved 2021-10-31.
  4. ^ Macfarlane, Emmett, editor. (2016). Constitutional Amendment in Canada. ISBN 978-1-4426-1900-5. OCLC 1046612703. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Newar Bdair. (2001). Newar Bdair – The Constituent Power. Fountain Publishers. ISBN 9970-02-271-7. OCLC 3286293. SSRN 3286293.
  6. ^ Id. at 125
  7. ^ Axel Hadenius, ed., Democracy's Victory and Crisis, Ch 7: Ways of constitution-making by Jon Elster (p. 123); Cambridge University Press, 1997. 431 pp ISBN 9780521573115

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