Annual Review of Constitution Building: 2025

International IDEA's Annual Review of Constitution Building examines global constitutional reform efforts around the world. The 2025 review covers cases from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and the Pacific, highlighting the challenges facing democratic constitutionalism amid political transitions, polarization, and weakening constitutional safeguards. 

Topics include constitutional reform processes in Bangladesh, Ghana, and Palestine; political transitions in Bangladesh and Syria; Gen Z mobilization and its constitutional implications in Nepal and Madagascar; barriers to constitutional change in Fiji and The Gambia; the use of constitutional reform to entrench personalized rule in Chad, Djibouti, El Salvador, Guinea, and Nicaragua; and the impact of digital speech regulation on freedom of expression in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. 

While the global picture remains troubling, the report highlights the importance of inclusive constitution-building processes, broad political agreement, and effective safeguards against the concentration of power, particularly at a time of growing polarization and pressure on constitutional rights.

Contents

Introduction 
Kimana Zulueta-Fülscher

1. Voices from Reformers: Constitutional Reforms in Bangladesh, Ghana, and Palestine
Adem Kassie Abebe

2. Dealing with the Future under Conditions of Uncertainty: Bangladesh and Syria
Kimana Zulueta-Fülscher

3. Gen Z Mobilization and Pathways to Political, Constitutional, and Institutional Reform in 2025
Sharon Pia Hickey

4. Thresholds for Approving Constitutional Change: Recent Events in Fiji and The Gambia
Alexander Hudson

5. (Mis)using Constitutional Reforms to Preserve Personalized Presidential Rule
Alexandra Oancea

6. The Structural Reconfiguration of Constitutional Free-Speech Rights in Pakistan and Sri Lanka
Eva Montero Ibarra

Also in this series: Annual Review of Constitution-Building: 2024