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Autocratic Influence In Democratic Transitions: How The Timing Of Constitutional Reform Impacts Democratic Consolidation, Benjamin Hotchner

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Perhaps no document better symbolizes a nation-state than a written constitution. In particular, during the unstable period of transition between autocracy and democracy, the investment of political and cultural capital in creating an entirely new constitution reflects an expectation on the part of participants that constitutions can exercise independent and legitimate authority on citizens and government within its jurisdiction. Thus, as constitutions either prologue a period of democratic renewal (e.g South Africa, 1994) or constrain later democratic institutions (e.g. Chile, 1989), they offer important contributions to democratic theory (Mallios). This mixed-methodology study will attempt to explain how these processes used …