ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the uptake or lack of uptake of constitutions as discourse within modern nations, paying particular attention to the non-referential aspects of constitutions, and to their role in circulatory processes. With regard to the role of fear in relation to fostering circulation, once a constitution has widespread acceptance, as in the US case, it is likely to be a motivating factor only when there is a threat, even a hypothetical one, that it might be taken away. The chapter suggests that the processes by which constitutions circulate as discourse and embed themselves in a population are based on similar iconic and indexical associations, albeit ones not necessarily grounded in tangible physical objects like facsimile constitutions. Affect, therefore, whose role may be limited, is nonetheless essential to the discursive success of a constitution, and therefore also to the rule of law. It can stimulate defense of existing constitutional discourse as well as renew debate about its possible transformation.
