ABSTRACT
The element of crisis tends to confer an emotional, turbulent, and sometimes violent character on the constitution-making process, contrary to the clich that constitutions are written by Peter when sober to bind Peter when drunk. Constitution-triggers include revolution regime implosion fall of dictatorships the aftermath of war national independence and financial crisis. The Constitutional Council was supposed to take into consideration the recommendations of the Forum, but was not constrained by this upstream body. The Icelandic process was unique in the midstream influence on the delegates through crowd sourcing: The twenty-five members of the Council regularly posted online, for the world to see and for the Icelandic people to read, the version of the draft they were working on. Although the Legislative Act establishing the Council stated that [s]essions shall be open to the public to the extent that constraints of space will permit, this practice does not seem to have been adopted.
