Diffusion and the Constitutionalization of Europe
Date
2010Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This article begins with a rather forceful defense of the explanatory role
of formal institutions—and, in particular, constitutions—in the study of
democratization. Important aspects of constitutions play a significant part
in shaping the quality, type, and survival of institutional arrangements in new
democracies. With this assumption, the article turns seriously to theories of
constitutional design, any of which must grapple with the overwhelming prima
facie evidence of constitutional diffusion. It is well known that constitutional
ideas travel easily across contexts. However, scholars until now have lacked
even basic empirical evidence regarding the patterns of constitutional
similarity across time and space. This article introduces exactly this sort of
evidence in the context of 19th-century Europe, employing a new data set
expressly designed for such a purpose. The analysis uncovers a number of
new insights regarding the spread of constitutional ideas in Europe, insights
that disturb some of the classic narratives of democratization in these cases.