Tunisia: Lessons learned from constitution-making: Processes with broad based public participation, Democracy Reporting International - 2011

Although there are various approaches to participatory constitution-making, past decades have seen a clear trendtowards broad public participation in constitutional reform all over the world. Such public participation entails the directinvolvement of citizens in constitution-making, giving them a chance to influence decision-makers and the outcome of the process. The paper concludes to useful issues for the Constituent Assembly of Tunisia to consider:

• devoting one of its first sessions to a debate about the type, degree and modalities of public participation itdeems most adequate in the current situation• enacting suitable legal rules and procedures in order to guarantee agreed levels of consultation• conducting public sessions and hearings, and publishing up-to-date reports on its deliberations• establishing an outreach programme and working closely with media and civil society organisations to inform andeducate citizens about its work.