Journal Articles

Diffusion and the Constitutionalization of Europe

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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.

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Detail Information

Series Title

Comparative Political Studies

Call Number

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Publisher

: sage publisher., 2010

Collation

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Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

00104140

Classification

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Content Type

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Media Type

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Carrier Type

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Edition

Vol. 43 no. 8-9, August 2010, pp. 969-999

Subject(s)

Democracy
Democratization
Europe
Diffusion
Constitutional design
Diffusion and the Constitutionalization of Europe

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