Government Process

To survive in todays globalized world, the making of a written constitution is a main criteria for post-conflict states or regimes to obtain democratic credentials (Hart, 2003, p. 154).  Historically, the process of constitution-making is regarded as the highest embodiment of the social contract at work. Incorporated in this written document are all the laws that govern a nations political, economic, social, and cultural life. All citizens are bound to this written document in exchange for protection from the state.

A salient problem with the process of constitution-making in this day and age is that constitutions are often styled in conformity to the interests of more powerful nations or to a group of political elite. The pioneering example of this is the 1787 American constitution, which was drafted by a hand-picked elite group with the intention of marking a settlement of conflict and inaugurating a new regime of powers and rights (Hart, 2003, p. 155).

The effort to reconcile largely non-Western tradition of conflict states to the democratic principles of the West creates both problems and opportunities. First, the idea of creating a supreme law to govern all citizens that is patterned after a Western democracy creates tensions especially among nationalist factions that fight for an indigenous and patriotic constitution.

This often occurs in states where the process of constitution is undemocratic therefore, the legitimacy of the drafted constitution itself is put in question and fought against. However, where the constitution-making entailed participatory processes that allow all sectors to take part, this allows the written document and tradition to be harmonized and legitimized.  Second, there is the hesitation that the constitution-making process is required by the Western hegemonic states to influence the economic life of the country. If customary economic laws and traditions are not included in the written constitution, the constitution itself would be considered as anti-citizen and rejected. The bottom line in the constitution-making process is the resolution of conflict. The emphasis is as much on the product itself as to the process that governed it (Hart, 2003).

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