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Tom Ginsburg – I·CONnect

Blog of the International Journal of Constitutional Law

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Category: Tom Ginsburg

  • A Review of Iceland’s Draft Constitution from the Comparative Constitutions Project

    –Zachary Elkins, University of Texas; Tom Ginsburg,University of Chicago;                James Melton,University College London On the heels of an extraordinarily interesting experiment in constitutional design by crowdsourcing, Iceland is headed to the polls this week to test the public’s reaction to the draft constitution.  

  • Keeping up with the Obiangs: Theft and Hereditary Succession in Dictatorships

    According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term “kleptocracy” was first introduced into the English language in 1819 as a contemporary criticism of the Imperial Spanish Government. Perhaps it is fitting then that the leadership of tiny Equatorial Guinea – one of Spain’s former colonies – is doing so much to keep this particular colonial…

  • When to Overthrow Your Government: The Right to Resist in the World’s Constitutions

    Tom Ginsburg, Mila Versteeg and myself have just posted the preliminary version our upcoming article on the Right to Rebel within the world’s written constitutions unto SSRN. The article, which is available for download here, may well be of interest to our fellow scholars, bloggers and constitutional enthusiasts. 

  • North Korea’s constitutional innovations

    One doesn’t usually think of totalitarian dictatorships as constitutional innovators. But North Korea has just amended its constitution for the second time in two years, changing the preamble to indicate that Kim Jong Il had “transferred the country into an undefeated country with strong political ideology, a nuclear power state and invincible military power.”

  • The Central American Right to Rebel: why it served the 1982 Revolutionary Junta in Guatemala but could not save Zelaya:

    The first de facto right to resist in the Central American region was introduced by El Salvador in its constitution of 1886.(1) This right was subsequently expanded upon in 1945, and reached its present form in 1950.(2) Since that time many neighboring countries such as Honduras and Guatemala have likewise adopted similar provisions as have…

  • Happy 65th Birthday, Japanese postwar constitution …

    … and here’s to the next 65. There are a number of interesting facts and longstanding myths surrounding the Nihonkoku Kenpo, which went into effect 65 years ago today: few constitutions have gone longer without being amended (true!), even though it was “imposed” by “the United States” (not true …)  The Asahi Shimbun has a…

  • Tunisia’s Draft Preamble

    Zaid Al-Ali of International IDEA has provided a translation of the Draft Preamble of the new Tunisian Constitution. What is noteworthy to me is the predictability of the text. There are very few surprises, perhaps the biggest surprise is the continuity with older tropes in Arab politics.

  • Egypt suspends constitutional assembly

    Egypt’s muddled constitution-making process continues to befuddle. Yesterday the Supreme Administrative Court suspended the constituent assembly as unrepresentative and in violation of Article 60 of the constitutional declaration passed in 2011. The decision, which carried no explanation, is a bit puzzling as Article 60 does not provide any criteria for membership of the 100-member assembly.

  • Arab Spring Constitutionalism

    A piece I wrote on Constitutional reform in the Arab World was recently published by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs as expert commentary. Special thanks to Tom Ginsburg who helped me a great deal with his knowledge of the region.

  • Egypt on the agenda

    There has been a lot of attention to Egypt this past month, as the constitution-making process continues to move along; our occasional contributor Tamir Moustafa has an excellent and thorough analysis for the Brookings Center available here. Yesterday’s report that the Muslim Brotherhood has decided to run a presidential candidate marks an important turning point…