Book contents
- From Parchment to Practice
- Comparative Constitutional Law and Policy
- From Parchment to Practice
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- 1 Introduction
- Part I The Problem of Transformation in Constitutional Design
- Part II The Issue of Gender
- Part III Institutional Development and the Role of Courts
- Part IV Authoritarian Transitions
- 10 Transformational Authoritarian Constitutions
- 11 Authoritarian Straitjacket or Vehicle for Democratic Transition?
- 12 The Ethiopian Constitution and Ethnic Federalism
- Index
11 - Authoritarian Straitjacket or Vehicle for Democratic Transition?
The Risky Struggle to Change Myanmar’s Constitution
from Part IV - Authoritarian Transitions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 February 2020
- From Parchment to Practice
- Comparative Constitutional Law and Policy
- From Parchment to Practice
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- 1 Introduction
- Part I The Problem of Transformation in Constitutional Design
- Part II The Issue of Gender
- Part III Institutional Development and the Role of Courts
- Part IV Authoritarian Transitions
- 10 Transformational Authoritarian Constitutions
- 11 Authoritarian Straitjacket or Vehicle for Democratic Transition?
- 12 The Ethiopian Constitution and Ethnic Federalism
- Index
Summary
How hard is it to change a constitution that was drafted by an authoritarian regime? What strategies might democratic actors adopt to change such a constitution, and what risks may they face? These dilemmas face democratic actors in Myanmar who seek to change the 2008 Constitution. In this chapter I introduce the contours and practice of Myanmar’s Constitution as a political order set in place by the former military regime. I identify and explore the different strategies that have been used to change the 2008 Constitution – formal constitutional amendment proposals in 2013–2015; informal constitutional change through judicial interpretation in the Constitutional Tribunal; and informal constitutional change in the form of the legislative innovation of the Office of the State Counsellor. These attempts at constitutional reform come with particular risks to democratic actors, personal, political, and institutional. I suggest that the risks of constitutional change are heightened during the first period of a constitution, particularly if the constitution has been designed to protect the interests of the former authoritarian regime.
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- From Parchment to PracticeImplementing New Constitutions, pp. 263 - 280Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020