DATE: Wednesday, January 29, 2014
TIME: 12:45 PM - 2:00 PM
LOCATION: World Bank Headquarters, MC 6-100
Live Stream Option: If you cannot join us in person please connect virtually via live stream by entering as a guest user at the following link: http://thehivefcv. adobeconnect.com/arabspring/
Contents:
Debates over constitutional design are now at the very heart of political life across the Arab region. In this talk, Professor Choudhry will discuss three modest propositions about constitutional transitions in general, and in the Arab region, in particular, that reflect what we have learned over the past few years: (a) political inclusion produces constitutional stability; (b) constitutions are social contracts among the people as a whole and pacts among political elites; (c) new democracies face the risk of democratic authoritarianism that we should be alert to now; (d) constitutions are devices not only for democratic transition, but also political co-optation.
