Variables shaping participatory constitution-making: Insights from the experiences of small states

Abstract

Abstract One of the assumptions that undergirds, sometimes implicitly, much of the contemporary push for participatory constitution-making is that meaningful popular involvement is easier to achieve in units with fewer inhabitants. This article critically interrogates that view, using the experience of small states (understood as those with no more than 1.5 million inhabitants) during constitution-making processes. It suggests that population size is not always a decisive or even significant variable when it comes to the type and quality of popular input realized during constitution-making in small states. Instead, five other macrocultural and environmental variables that, either alone or together, may have a greater impact are identified: democratic history and elite stewardship; the enduring presence of traditional orderings of society and approaches to governance; the ethnic and religious make-up of society; the available human capital and state of economic development; and physical geography. Drawing on case studies from the Asia-Pacific region, we show how these variables play out and highlight the need for contextual assessments of participatory constitution-making, also within the small state universe, to avoid falling into the “usual suspect” trap that has long plagued work in comparative constitutional law generally. This article further suggests that the relevance of the five variables mentioned does not appear to be peculiar to small states, which means that these variables can similarly be profitably used in studies of participatory processes generally.