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Culture And The Rule Of Law: Cautions For Constitution-Making, David Pimentel

David Pimentel

Constitution-making in developing and post-conflict countries is a growth industry throughout the world. A country needing a new constitution will necessarily feel pressure to adopt, to "import," constitutional texts and principles from other, perhaps more developed nations, knowing that (1) such concepts have been tried and proven in other successful nations, and (2) they meet internationally-recognized minimum standards. A constitution, however, is, and must be, both a product of and a reaction to the society’s culture, and that includes its legal tradition, its history, and its ideology. Unless constitutions are drafted in cultural context, the best intentions are likely to …