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The article examines the evolution of political constitutionalism in three waves. Topics covered include the functionalist wave of political constitutionalism that was articulated by British jurist John Griffith in his 1978 Chorley Lecture on the political constitution, the normative wave which emerged in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and the reflexive wave which is characterised by an internal reflection which addresses the political constitution on its own terms.

The new Latin American constitutionalism (NLC) is the term that has been coined to refer to certain constitutional processes and constitutional reforms that have taken place relatively recently in Latin America. Constitutional theorists have not been very optimistic regarding the scope and nature of this new constitutionalism. I thoroughly agree with this critical skepticism as well as with the idea that this new phenomenon does not substantively change the organic element of the different constitutions in the region. However, I argue that it is a mistake to focus analysis on this characteristic. My intention is to show that the NLC should be evaluated in the context of its relationship with contemporary neo-constitutional theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Roger Scruton insists on the incompatibility of his conservatism and the fundamental liberal principles of individualism and consent, his political thought has much in common with classical liberal constitutionalism. This essay explores these relationships while arguing that particularly Locke's constitutionalism is more compatible with Scruton's ideas than he allows. Specifically, Scruton argues that authority necessarily precedes any individual claims, but Locke's civil society, in fact, subordinates individual rights to political authority and common goods. Similarly, Scruton's insists that the state is an end rather than a means, but his own account of the conditionality of allegiance approaches Locke's understanding of legitimacy in the practice of civic association. This narrowing of the differences suggests that a conservative teaching could begin with an education in liberal constitutionalism rightly understood. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper attempts to examine the prevailing scholarly view on the Young Ottoman and the Young Turk movements, which postulates that the concept of constitutionalism was solely and directly based on the western model, imported by the constitutionalist movements to the Ottoman Empire. As a child of the ‘modernization theory’, this approach mostly concentrates on European impact in an isolated manner, thus overlooking not only the manifold sources of the Ottoman constitutionalism, but also the means of legitimation that the Young Ottomans and the Young Turks cultivated. In view of this, I seek to shed light on the historical context of the Ottoman constitutionalism, by pointing out how the Young Ottomans and the Young Turks perceived the power struggles in the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and built continuity between themselves and the political position that aimed to restrict the royal prerogative before the nineteenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Afghanistan is largely known as a tribal peasant society, where the dominant organised socio-political forces are the tribes and the religious establishment, and where democratic and secular movements have been generally absent from the political scene. It is the tribal chiefs and the religious establishment that represent and mobilise people. However, liberal and constitutionalist movements in the country have had a relatively rich background since the early twentieth century. While the first constitutionalist political party emerged in the early 1900s, the first liberal party, Watan (or Homeland), emerged in the late 1940s in the aftermath of World War II, when the government allowed some changes in the method of ruling. The party became the most vocal and influential in political circles at the time. This article examines how a liberal-nationalist political party emerged and operated even though the ruling class had little desire for fundamental changes such as the separation of powers, freedom of expression or rule of law. It explores the features of the party, including its platform, goals, social and ethno-religious make-up and the method of struggle chosen to achieve its objectives, which also enabled it to take a leading role in the political process in the early 1950s. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the developmental causes and consequences of the shift from a parliamentary to a semi-presidential system in Sri Lanka in 1978, examining its provenance, rationale and unfolding trajectory. Drawing on a wide range of sources, it sets out an argument that the executive presidency was born out of an elite impulse to create a more stable, centralised political structure to resist the welfarist electoral pressures that had taken hold in the post-independence period, and to pursue a market-driven model of economic growth. This strategy succeeded in its early years, 1978–93, when presidents retained legislative control, maintained a strong personal commitment to market reforms and cultivated alternative sources of legitimacy. In the absence of these factors, the presidency slipped into crisis from 1994–2004 as resistance to elite-led projects of state reform mounted and as the president lost control of the legislature. Between 2005–14, the presidency regained its power, but at the cost of abandoning its original rationale and function as a means to recalibrate the elite–mass power relationship to facilitate elite-led reform agendas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last 15 years several important sources have been published allowing the appraisal of the role of ulema during the Iranian constitutional movement (1906–11) and thus opening new lines of research. The 2006–7 edition compiled by Muhsin Kadivar from several unknown documents written by Akhund Muhammad Kazim Khurasani (d. 1330/1911) make it possible to measure his importance and his impact on the evolution of the events as well as his ideological influence. The usuli rationalist jurist Akhund Khurasani was considered at the beginning of the constitutional movement as one of the principal mujtahidandmarja’-i taqlid of the Shiite world, and was possibly the best-known. After introducing the life and work of Akhund Khurasani and the theoretical principles (nazari) that he uses to define the constitutional movement, the main topics that arise in the study of this literature are identified. Particular attention is paid to his position as a rallying point and legitimizing force, his enthusiasm for an ambitious progressive policy, his intricate relations with western powers and his links with the Qajar. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]