ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the influence of the constitution-making process not on only the constitutional text but also on the development of informal norms of constitutionalism or unwritten constitutional principles that come to define the polity as much as the formal legal framework. It compares 160 constitution-making events, and focuses on the interrelationships between certain features of the process. The book focuses on the cases of Spain, Brazil and Poland, in which negotiations between the incumbent leadership and opposition forces eventually resulted in a democratic constitution that defined the new regime in each case. It explores the extent to which constitution-making in the Swiss cantons in general, and constitution-making by constituent assemblies in particular, has changed in the course of the past 180 years. The book also explores the European Union's experience with constitution-making from a comparative perspective.
