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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

Tom Ginsburg
Affiliation:
University of Chicago
Aziz Z. Huq
Affiliation:
University of Chicago
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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.

Type
Chapter
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From Parchment to Practice
Implementing New Constitutions
, pp. 263 - 280
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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