Democratic Consolidation and Constitutional Endurance in Asia and Africa

Auteur
Tom Gerald Daly is Deputy Director of the Melbourne School of Government, Director of the online knowledge platform Democratic Decay & Renewal (DEM-DEC; democratic-decay.org), and Convenor of the Constitution Transformation Network (CTN). His comparative research focuses on global democratic decay and renewal, the contingent democratic legitimacy of judicial review, constitutional design, and constitutional repair. Beyond extensive experience at Melbourne, Edinburgh, and Copenhagen universities, his consultancy work includes designing a pan-continental African Judicial Network for the African Union and leading or working on constitutional-legal reform projects in states and territories including Lebanon, Palestine, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and the Pacific. Dinesha Samararatne is Senior Lecturer at Faculty of Law of the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. She is a Convenor of the Constitution Transformation Network (CTN) at Melbourne Law School and an Articles Editor for the Indian Law Review. Dinesha's research interests include constitutional law, administrative law, and human rights law from a Global South perspective, including fourth branch institutions, constitutional resilience, public participation in constitution-making, and judicial interpretation of fundamental rights. She has published with the Asian Journal of Law and Society, World Comparative Law, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, and Asian Journal of Comparative Law.

Texte du rabat

A well-articulated response to the growing scholarly conversation on democratic backsliding and resilience, this essay collection considers recent democratising events in Ethiopia, The Gambia, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.

Résumé
What factors drive constitutional change and sustain positive transformation? How are democratic values recognised, restored, and preserved through constitutional change? Democratic Consolidation and Constitutional Endurance in Asia and Africa is a well-articulated response to the growing scholarly conversation on democratic backsliding and resilience. Bringing together leading and emerging voices in constitutional law, this groundbreaking new collection considers recent democratising events in Ethiopia, The Gambia, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Across seven thematic chapters and seven case studies, the volume provides analytical insight into central topics arising from these events, including the role of political parties which depart from 'Western' frameworks; the often-marginalised place of courts; the centrality of civil-military relations; the explanatory power of constitutional culture; and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Offering a decolonising approach to constitutional law and democratisation studies, this book will be of keen interest to scholars, practitioners, and policymakers alike. It is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the relationship between democratic decay and institutional endurance, and how such a relationship plays out in conditions of ongoing constitutional development.

Contenu

• 1: Tom Gerald Daly and Dinesha Samararatne: Decolonising Comparative Constitutional Law (and Democratisation Studies)?

• Part I Thematic Chapters

• 2: Jason Grant Allen: Public Offices in Processes of Constitutional Development

• 3: Kimana Zulueta-Fülscher: The Role of Governing Institutions in Attempted Reform Processes

• 4: Mouli Banerjee: Here, There, and Everywhere: Locating the Political Party in Democratic Transitions and Backslides

• 5: Julius Yam: Constitutional Courts and the Exceptionality of Regime-Change

• 6: Shanil Wijesinha and Daniel Alphonsus: Civil-Military Relations

• 7: Cheryl Saunders: Constitutional Cultures

• 8: Joelle Grogan: The Impact of COVID-19

• Part II Case Studies

• 9: Satang Nabaneh: Prospects for Democratic Consolidation in The Gambia: A Cup Half Full, Half Empty, or More?

• 10: Adem Kassie Abebe: Ethiopia's Transition: Will the Country Stem Descent to its Tradition of Authoritarianism?

• 11: Mariyam Zulfa: The Maldives Constitution 2008: Winds of Change at the Fifteenth-year Crossroads

• 12: Luwie Ganeshathasan: Sri Lanka's Chronic Inability to Sustain Democratic Reform

• 13: Ohn Mar Zin, Naw Janet, and Kimana Zulueta-Fülscher: Myanmar's Transition to Peace and Democracy: The Journey Reversed

• 14: Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang: Coup and Decay: How Thai-style Democracy Abuses Constitutionalism

• 15: Wilson Tay Tze Vern: Making a Progress on a Rocky Path: Democratic Consolidation and Endurance in Malaysia, 2018-2021