Law and Democracy Network: African Constitutionalism and Political Thought

Dr Berihun Gebeye will present his work on 'The Normative and Institutional Alchemy of Postcolonial Constitutionalism'.

Abstract: The postcolonial constitution offers a third way—an alternative to the two hitherto dominant paradigms of legal and political constitutionalism. A serious consideration of its normative commitments, institutional frameworks, and rules of constitutional change reveals that it sets out a distinct model for governance in the postcolonial state. Drawing from African experiences, I show how the postcolonial constitution reanimates key constitutional ideas—democracy, liberalism, constitutional supremacy, separation of powers, constitutional rights, and constitutional policy—such that standard constitutional theories prove largely inadequate. This ‘third way’ better captures the phenomenological reality of the postcolonial constitution and offers richer normative resources to realize its promises.