Afghanistan is one of at least 34 countries worldwide that have written new constitutions in the last ten years. Each of these countries has taken its own approach to the writing of its constitution as well as to its subsequent adoption. Of the seven countries profiled in the Interactive Map, one — Venezuela — implemented its 26th constitution in 1999, while others, like East Timor, only recently implemented the terms of their first. Some country’s constitutions feature unique provisions, like South Africa’s inclusion of economic rights, while other countries have written documents that intentionally mirror constitutions successfully used in other nations.
1. Constitutional History
Afghanistan's most recent constitution was ratified in 2004. The country's prior constitution was drafted in 1990.
2. Type of Government
Afghanistan is currently under a transitional government. Under the new constitution the country will be a republic. The interim president, who is both chief of state and head of government is Hamid Karzai; under the new constitution the president and two vice presidents will be elected by direct vote for a five-year term. Currently the legistlative branch of the Afghan government is nonfunctioning; under the new constitution the bicameral national assembly will consist of the Wolesi Jirga (House of People) and the Meshrano Jirga (House of Elders). The new constitution establishes a nine-member supreme court (Stera Mahkama).
3. Process for Drafting and Ratification
The transitional authority participated in a constitutional loya jirga in late 2003, which culminated in approval of a new constitution that was signed into law on January 26, 2004.
4. Assistance From International Agencies
The U.N. International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan is not a U.N. peacekeeping operation but has allowed the U.N. to assert significant influence over the development of Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban.
In 1979 Afghanistan was invaded by the Soviet Union. Ten years later, anti communist forces (including the United States) helped mujahedin fighters expel the Soviets. This conflict gave way to internal strife as rival factions within Afghanistan fought each other for control. The Taliban emerged as the most powerful of these and seized command of the country in 1996. After the Taliban were implicated as responsible for the September 11th attacks in the United States, the U.S. and allied forces invaded Afghanistan and succeeded in toppling the Taliban. This event presented the Afghans with their first real opportunity for sovereignty. In an effort to embrace that opportunity Afghan leaders of various Taliban opposition groups met in Bonn, Germany in late 2001 and designed a plan for implementing a new government for Afghanistan. This plan included drafting a new constitution and establishing an interim government meant to guide the country from its war-ravaged state into a position of peace and self-rule.
Afghanistan's history of internal disquietude continues now, as its many different ethnic groups, tribal leaders, emerging political parties, and warlords vie for influence. Of course, in addition to the internal struggle to keep the peace and stick to the terms of the Bonn Agreement for reconstruction, Afghans endure continuing military action meant to expel remaining terrorists, crippling poverty, an annihilated infrastructure, a rapidly growing drug trade, lack of educational opportunities, and extensive land mines as impediments to their quest for peace and national stability.
The new constitution mirrors the constitution of the United States in many ways: its president will serve both as head of government and chief of state, and the afghan national assembly will consist, like the U.S. Congress, of two primarily elected bodies. However, Afghanistan's constitution does not separate church and state as the United States does. Instead, the constitution defines the country as an Islamic nation formally called the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The next task Afghanistan's fledgling government faces is to hold nationwide elections. Successful completion of national elections is the one major step left to complete before the transitional authority would dissolve, and the country would officially become a self-governing republic.
1. Constitutional History
Bosnia's pre-existing constitution was actually an edited version of a document dating from 1974. The current constitution was negotiated as part of the Dayton Agreement in November 1995, signed and adopted officially the following month.
2. Type of Government
Bosnia and Herzegovina is an emerging federal democratic republic. Three people share the presidency: one Bosniak, one Croat, and one Serb who rotate every eight months. Currently Sulejman Tihic is the Bosniak president, Dragon Covic is the Croat president, and Borislav Paravac is the Serb president. The three members are elected by popular vote for a four-year term. The country has a bicameral parliamentary assembly: the 15-seat House of Peoples (Dom Naroda) and the 42-seat National House of Representatives (Predstavnicki Dom). Bosnia and Herzegovina's judicial system is divided into two parts: a constitutional court, and a state court each of which has its own supreme court and several lower courts.
3. Process for Drafting and Ratification
The constitution was negotiated as part of the Dayton Agreement with substantial American participation, in late 1995.
4. Assistance From International Agencies
The United States representatives to the Dayton negotiations assisted in drafting the constitution. Additionally, in 1995-96 a NATO-led peacekeeping force (IFOR) established itself in Bosnia to help monitor the military elements of the agreements recently reached. IFOR has been succeeded by a smaller, still NATO-led Stabilization Force (SFOR) whose mission is to diffuse any renewed tensions. SFOR is still active.
In March 1994, Bosniaks and Croats signed an agreement creating a joint Bosniak/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, leaving the Serbs as the remaining contrary faction. On November 21, 1995, in Dayton, Ohio, the remaining tensions between the Bosniaks/Croat alliance and the Serbs were mollified by the adoption of a peace agreement. The constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina was included as part of the Dayton Peace Accords. It was negotiated and drafted with American participation in 1995 and it brought closure to the area's conflict between Bosniaks (Muslims), Croatians, and Serbs. A key issue was preventing the Bosnian Serbs from seceding to join a Greater Serbia. Though the negotiations succeeded in preventing such a dramatic split by creating a state with two entities -- the Republika Srpska, with roughly one-third of the population and political positions, and the Muslim/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the rest -- the outcome left doubt regarding the country's future as an integrated, multi-ethnic state. Evidence of continuing difficulties can be seen in the spring 2002 decision taken by external authorities to impose upon the two territories anti-discriminatory reforms that the areas' representative bodies had themselves refused to adopt.
1. Constitutional History
Poland's first constitution dates back to 1791. In 1952 they created a constitution that endured the bloodless overthrow of communism. The newest constitution came into force in October 1997.
2. Type of Government
Poland is a republic. Its president is Aleksander Kwasniewski who was elected for his first term in December 1995; the bicameral National Assembly consists of the 460-seat Sejm and the 100-seat senate; the judiciary system is two part: the supreme court, in which justices are appointed by the president for an indefinite term and the constitutional tribunal, in which justices are chosen by the Sejm for nine-year terms.
3. Process for Drafting and Ratification
The constitution was adopted by the national assembly in April 1997, passed by national referendum in May 1997, and came into force on October 16, 1997.
4. Assistance From International Agencies
There were no agencies of note assisting Poland in the construction of its constitution.
It is a point of deep national pride that Poland had one of the world's oldest written constitutions, dating from 1791. More recently, its Soviet-era document outlasted the overthrow of communism in 1989. By 1997, leftist Poles -- supportive of the former communists and weary of free-market reforms -- favored the new constitution with a secular tone, which guaranteed health care and education. Rightists aligned with the solidarity movement and the Catholic church tended to oppose the document. The opposition was partly due to the constitution's lack of an absolute ban on abortion and the group's desire for a stronger presidential system to raise Poland's international profile relative to Russia and Germany.
1. Constitutional History
Eritrea became independent from Ethiopia in April 1993. At that time the national assembly drafted a transitional constitution, which was replaced by an official constitution in 1997. This most recent document has been ratified but not yet implemented.
2. Type of Government
Eritrea is still considered a transitional government. Isaias Afworki is president, head of government, head of the state council, and head of the national assembly; the country will have an elected 150-seat unicameral national assembly but currently has a partially elected transitional national assembly; the Eritrean High Court is the primary judicial body.
3. Process for Drafting and Ratification
The constitutional assembly drafted the document, which was then approved by the national assembly.
4. Assistance From International Agencies
The United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) is a U.N. peacekeeping operation that has been established in Eritrea since June 2000 in an effort to keep tensions with Ethiopia under control.
In 1962 Ethiopia annexed Eritrea as a province, instigating a 30-year struggle for independence. In 1991 Eritrean rebels finally defeated Ethiopian forces, and independence was approved in a 1993 referendum. After the declaration of independence, earnest efforts seemed to be taking place on the part of the interim government to move Eritrea out of its transitional status and into legitimate sovereignty. In 1997 the constitution was approved by the national assembly but was not yet adopted pending parliamentary and presidential elections. Parliamentary elections had been scheduled to take place in December 2001, but were postponed indefinitely by President Afworki. Afworki cites a two-and-a-half-year border war with Ethiopia that erupted in 1998 as the reason behind the postponement of the elections, but critics are skeptical about the validity of such a claim and suggest that the president's behavior is increasingly dictatorial. In any case the border war ended under U.N. guidance in December 2000, a year before elections were set to take place.
1. Constitutional History
South Africa had multiple constitutions between 1910 and 1993. After the fall of apartheid, another version was drafted between May 1994 and October 1996 and was approved in December 1996.
2. Type of Government
South Africa is a republic. Its president, who is both chief of state and head of government, is Thabo Mbeki; the bicameral parliament is composed of two bodies: the 400-seat elected national assembly, and the 90-seat national council of provinces; the country's judicial system is comprised of a constitutional court, a supreme court of appeals, high courts, and magistrate courts.
3. Process for Drafting and Ratification
The new constitution was based on revisions of the 1993 interim constitution and was drafted by South Africa's constitutional assembly, a body comprised of the 490 members of both houses of parliament. The final constitution, completed in 1996, required approval of two thirds of parliament, and compliance with the 34 constitutional principles agreed to in the Interim Constitution. After initial rejection by the constitutional court, it was revised and approved in December 1996.
4. Assistance From International Agencies
There were no agencies of note assisting South Africa in the construction of its constitution.
South Africa's constitution emerged through reform of the apartheid system of white privilege, codified in successive constitutions reaching back to 1910. The first draft, however, of the document was rejected in September of 1996 by the Constitutional Court, on grounds that the proposed constitution gave the provinces less power than was agreed upon during initial discussions. The document was revised, finally certified by the Constitutional Court, and signed by then President Nelson Mandela in December of 1996.
The principles of this new constitution aim to end the country's history of strife and establish racial equality and opportunity. Toward these ends, the document explicitly defines not only the "negative" rights that limit governmental powers and ensure civil and political rights, but also its "positive" rights, such as human rights and dignity, housing, health care, education, and interestingly, economic rights. Few countries include provisions for economic rights in their constitutions, but the drafters hoped doing so would protect and aid those disadvantaged by apartheid and those who are afflicted by poverty. This has made South Africa's constitution one of the most progressive documents of its kind.
1. Constitutional History
In March 2002 East Timor's first constitution was implemented.
2. Type of Government
East Timor is a republic with a parliamentary government. The prime minister and head of government is Mari Alkatiri. The president and chief of state is Xanana Gusmao; the unicameral national parliament has a minimum of 52 and a maximum of 65 seats, and its members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms; the Supreme Court of Justice is the country's highest court.
3. Process for Drafting and Ratification
The elected constituent assembly was allowed 90 days by the U.N. to write East Timor's constitution, which it then ratified in March 2002.
4. Assistance From International Agencies
The Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) was established in 1999 to help East Timor attain and maintain independence. Following independence, the U.N. Mission for the Support of East Timor (UNMISET) was established in May 2004 to help ease East Timor's transition to self-government.
The Portuguese colony Timor became the Indonesian province of East Timor in July 1976. The next two decades brought with them extreme violence and political turmoil as an estimated 100,000 to 250,000 individuals lost their lives fighting Indonesian occupation. On August 30, 1999, 78 percent of the people of East Timor voted for independence.
Indonesian occupation of East Timor was characterized by brutal military repression but it was also defined by East Timor's substantial dependence on Indonesian rule. When the U.N. stepped in to help East Timor out of it's dependence, in many ways UNTAET simply supplanted Indonesia as the governing force upon which East Timor depends. UNMISET provides security and all manners of advisory services for the new government, in addition to overseeing drafting of the constitution and providing military and political support during elections. As Asia's poorest country (G.D.P. $478) the challenge for East Timor -- now that the country finally has its freedom and a constitution by which to rule itself -- is to truly end its history of dependence upon global and regional powers like the U.N., the World Bank, and the IMF.
1. Constitutional History
Venezuela has been governed by several different constitutions over the years, but the most recent version was drafted in 1999. The new constitution is the 26th in Venezuela's history.
2. Type of Government
Venezuela is a federal republic. The president, Hugo Chávez Frias serves both as chief of state and head of government; the unicameral National Assembly is composed of 165 members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms; the high court is comprised of magistrates elected by the National Assembly for a single 12-year term.
3. Process for Drafting and Ratification
A 131-member body of elected officials made up the constitutional assembly, which drafted the 1999 constitution. The people of Venezuela voted by a 92 percent majority to ratify the new constitution in December 1999.
4. Assistance From International Agencies
There were no agencies of note assisting Venezuela in the construction of its constitution.
Venezuela's political history has been wracked by violence, upheaval, and crippling corruption. When current President Hugo Chávez was first elected in December 1998 he enjoyed an 80 percent approval rating. In the nearly six years since he's been in office, his numbers have dipped somewhat, but in general Chávez is an extremely popular, if controversial leader. The source of his popularity comes at least in part from the fact that he has followed through with his campaign promises to rid Venezuela of social and political instability, uplift its poor, and eradicate corruption from it's judicial system. The source of his divisiveness centers around the means he's employed to accomplish these goals, including, in particular, a significant re-drafting of the country's constitution which opponents say has placed Chávez in an unprecedented position of political power.
Indeed, the new constitution does give Chávez much more control than his predecessors. It extends his presidential term from five to six years and allows for re-election for one consecutive term, a provision that did not exist before. It also does away with aspects of the government, such as the bicameral congress, which were previously controlled by his opponents. Nonetheless, Chávez has just overcome the most recent attempt to unseat him -- a mid-term referendum on his presidency was defeated by 58 percent of the vote in August of this year.
