- PVCC Jessup Library
- Jessup Playbooks
- PLS 135 Course Playbook
- Writing a Constitution
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PLS 135 Course Playbook
Resources for research in political science, government, and international relations.
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Betty Sue Jessup Library
501 College Drive
Charlottesville, VA 22902
434.961.5309
reference@pvcc.edu
Betty Sue Jessup Library
501 College Drive
Charlottesville, VA 22902
434.961.5309
reference@pvcc.edu
Introduction
For this assignment for PLS 135, you have to write an essay explaining how you would go about writing a constitution. There are no right or wrong answers for this assignment, but you have to provide evidence to back up your choices. This evidence will come from research.
Websites
- Constitution Writing and Conflict Resolution"...repository for information about the steps countries have taken to produce new constitutions since 1975. "
- How to Draft a Constitution: Six Steps for the Middle EastFrom the Christian Science Monitor.
- Countries Change Their Constitutions Often. There's an App for That.From The Economist.
- The Nuts and Bolts of Writing a New ConstitutionInterview from NPR.
- Constitute"The world's constitutions to read, search, and compare."
- Comparative Constitutions Project"The intent of the project is to investigate the sources and consequences of constitutional choices. Towards this end, the investigators are collecting data on the formal characteristics of written constitutions, both current and historical, for most independent states since 1789."
Background Research
What is a constitution? What is democracy? What is a citizen? What are some citizens' rights? Responsibilities?
To find background information that will answer these questions and prepare you to argue your points, go to the library's home page and under START HERE enter a key term (such as democracy, citizen, constitution, etc.), to find information about it.
Books
Democratic Constitutional Design and Public Policy by This book brings together some of the most exciting recent work on what makes constitutions work and what causes them to fail. In territory that was until recently the exclusive province of lawyers, an eminent group of economists and political scientists gambol freely, with fascinating results. It will be essential for scholars and students of constitutional theory. (Iain McLean, Professor of Politics, University of Oxford)
Comparative Constitutional Design by This volume brings together essays by many of the leading scholars of comparative constitutional design from myriad disciplinary perspectives, including law, philosophy, political science, and economics. The authors collectively assess what we know -- and do not know -- about the design process as well as particular institutional choices concerning executive power, constitutional amendment process, and many other issues. Bringing together positive and normative analysis, it provides the state of the art in a field of growing theoretical and practical importance
Constitution-Making and Popular Participation by To what extent does the constitution-making process matter? By focusing on three central aspects of constitution-making; the nature of the constitution-making body, how it reaches decisions and the way in which a new constitution is legitimized and by examining a wide range of case studies, this international collection from expert contributors provides answers to this crucial question. Bridging the gap between law and political science this book draws together divergent research on the role of constitution-making in conflict resolution, constitutional law and democratization and employs a wide variety of qualitative and quantitative methods to unfold and explore the political frameworks of the states affected. Comparative analysis is used to investigate potential causal chains between constitution-making processes and their outcomes in terms of stability, conflict resolution and democracy. By focusing on both procedure and context, the book explores the impact of constitution-making procedures in new and established states and unions in Europe, South America, and Africa.
Designing Democracy by What is the purpose of a constitution? This book shows how a democratic constitution helps diverse people, with opposing ethical and religious commitments, to live together on terms of mutual respect.
