000			01541pab a2200169 454500
008			180718b2016 xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
100			_aVersteeg, Mila
245			_aConstitutions unentrenched: toward an alternative theory of constitutional design
260			_c2016
300			_ap.657-674.
362			_aNov
520			_aThis article highlights a gap between a great deal of constitutional theory and a great deal of the practice of democratic constitution-making. Drawing on data from democratic national and state constitutions, we challenge the consensus among constitutional theorists that a central purpose of constitutionalism is the entrenchment (the fortification against future change) of broad principles. The empirical reality is that the majority of democratic constitutions today are subject to frequent revision, and are therefore ill-equipped to facilitate the entrenchment of their contents. To explore the logic of these unentrenched documents, we identify the historical periods in which different geographic regions moved away from highly entrenched constitutions, and we examine the political contexts of these transformations. We find that, in each context, constitution-makers were attempting to limit the discretion of constitutional interpreters and implementers by drafting highly specific texts and by updating them in response to continually changing circumstances. - Reproduced.
650			_aConstitutions
700			_aZackin, Emily
773			_aAmerican Political Science Review
909			_a113718
999			_c113712 _d113712