Document Type
Article
Disciplines
International Law
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to try to provide some explanation of why it has proved so hard to establish constitutionalism in many developing countries, particularly those in Africa. I do this principally by examining the nature of the state in these countries and drawing implications from such nature for a system of governance. I point to the specificity of the contingencies of governance in these countries by discussing the conditions and ideologies which produced, and now sustain, constitutionalism or the rule of law in the west. There is a danger in this method of drawing unwarrantably sharp contrasts, and of romanticising the Western experience. I hope I can avoid this danger by focusing on those features of the third world state which both distinguish and ally them to the western states. The primary assumption underlying my approach is that in order to understand the dynamics and function of constitutionalism, one has to uncover its social and economic bases, and thus transcend the formal boundaries of the law. Legal theory needs to be enriched by sociological perspectives and enquiry.
Recommended Citation
Ghai, Yash, "The Theory of the State in the Third World and the Problem of Constitutionalism" (1991). Connecticut Journal of International Law. 155.
https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/cjil/155
Accessibility Requirements
1