Shaping States through Constitutions

From Nepal to Bolivia, from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Georgia, constitutions are increasingly becoming hot political issues. Obviously, they are no longer merely seen as rubber stamps to confer official dignity to established political power. More than half of the member states of the United Nations have undergone constitutional reforms since 1974. While individually unique, these processes reflect certain global trends.

In this editorial issued in 2006, Vidar Helgesen, the Secretary-General of Internationa IDEA writes about this issue.