ABSTRACT
Why constitutions? Constitutionalism is as problematic as any concept in the political science lexicon. Liberal narratives define the art of constitution-making as a progressive endeavour, the formal act of constraining the exercise of power in a polity. Constitutions in this narrative are nothing less than a foundational moment, a new beginning, the ‘symbolic proclamation of the creation of a new political community’. More than that, they have a social function, an expression ‘of political leaders’ benign attempts to enhance social integration in systemically divided polities’.1 Some contemporary commentators are less than convinced about such claims, though there is at least a broad normative consensus that a virtuous outcome is precisely what the constitutional endeavour ought to be about.
