Under what circumstances do new constitutions improve a nation\u27s level of democracy? Between 1974 and 2014, democracy increased in 77 countries following the adoption of a new constitution, but it decreased or stayed the same in 47 others. This book demonstrates that increased participation in the forming of constitutions positively impacts levels of democracy. It is discovered that the degree of citizen participation at the \u27convening stage\u27 of constitution-making has a strong effect on levels of democracy. This finding defies the common theory that levels of democracy result from the content of constitutions, and instead lends support to \u27deliberative\u27 theories of democracy.https://ecommons.luc.edu/facultybooks/1137/thumbnail.jp
