Law Law

Constitutional Identity and Constitutionalism in Africa

Edited by Charles M. Fombad · Nico Steytler
Oxford University Press February 2024

Specifications

ISBN-13
9780198906308
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Publication
February 2024
Format
Hardback
Jurisdiction
U.K. ? Countri(es) for reference only

Details

In its modern history, Africa has experienced different waves of constitutional ordering. The latest democratisation wave, which began in the 1990s, has set the stage over the past decade for what is now a hotly debated issue: do recent, new, or fundamentally revised constitutions truly reflect an African constitutional identity? Thoughtfully navigating a contested field, this volume brings to the fore a number of foundational questions about African constitutionalism.

Constitutional Identity and Constitutionalism in Africa asks whether the concept of constitutional identity clarifies our understanding of constitutional change in Africa, including an exploration of the relationship between constitutional identity and a country's unique culture(s) and histories. Building on this, contributions examine the persistent role of colonial heritages in shaping constitutional identity in post-Independence African nations, and the question of path-dependency. Given the enduring influence of the colonial experience, the volume asks how, why, and to what end African constitutions must be 'decolonised' to form an authentic constitutional identity. This theoretical insight is supplemented and further deepened by detailed case studies of South Africa, Ethiopia, Cape Verde, Cameroon, and Egypt and their diverse experience of constitutional continuity and change.

This volume in the Stellenbosch Handbooks in African Constitutional Law series, brings together contributions from established scholars and emerging voices on the study of constitutional processes. They provide an urgent critical analysis of existing paradigms, concepts and normative ideologies of modern African constitutionalism in the context of constitutional identity.

Table of Contents

Introductory Remarks
Keynote Address:Africa's Chequered Journey to Constitutional Democracy, Ben Nwabueze
Introductory Remarks:Constitutional Identity, Yash Ghai
Introduction:In Search of Constitutional Identity and Constitutionalism in Africa, Nico Steytler and Charles M Fombad

Part 1: Overview of Concepts and Key Issues, Colonial and Traditional Constitutional Identities and Path Dependency
1:Constitutional Identity and Constitutionalism in Africa: Concepts and Key Issues, Charles M Fombad
2:Constitutional Checks and Balances in Traditional Africa, George Ayittey
3:Constitutional Identity and Traditional Authority in the Post-Colony, Heinz Klug
4:The Struggle for Constitutional Identity in Francophone Africa?, Charles M Fombad and Tresor Muhindo
5:Who are 'We, the People'? Pluralist Constitutional Identity after Democratic Transitions in African and European Countries, Karl Kossler

Part 2: Case Studies
6:A Century of South African Constitutional Identities, Nico Steytler
7:Political Changes, Constitutional Identities and Disruptions in Contemporary Ethiopia, Asnake Kefale
8: Rooting Constitutional Identity in African Countries without Pre-Colonial Institutional Traditions but with National Values: The Cape Verdean Experience and the Role of the Constitutional Court, José Pina-Delgado
9:Cameroon and the Crisis of Constitutional Identity: Is Anglophone Identity Incompatible with a Cameroonian Constitutional Identity?, Carlson Anyangwe and Charles M Fombad
10:Taking Power from the People: Shifting Constitutional Identity in Egypt, Sherif Elgebeily

Part 3: Conclusion
11:Fostering a Sense of Constitutional Identity amid the Travails of African Constitutionalism, Charles M Fombad
HKD 1,986.08 −3%
HKD 2,047.50

Inclusive of HK delivery

Ready to ship
Delivery Time: around 4-5 weeks
Extra 2-10 working days if shipping address outside Hong Kong
  • Free HK shipping over HK$1,000
  • International shipping to 35+ countries
Order Form
Save

Recommended

You may also be interested in these books:

More titles from Law

View all