Comparative Constitutional Design: Northern Stagnation, Southern Innovation

Abstract

It is hard to overstate the intellectual renaissance of comparative constitutional law over the last two decades. And yet, despite this tremendous renaissance, some challenges persist. This article focuses on one such challenge: the tendency of comparative constitutional law to draw on a small number of "usual suspect" jurisdictions based in the Global North. This establishes an overarching presumption of a supposed one-way flow of new constitutional ideas from the Global North to the Global South, but many of the most daring and innovative constitutional experiments vis-a-vis climate change, urbanization, and democratic renewal have in fact taken place in the Global South. This article accordingly argues that the Global South offers a valuable arsenal of novel constitutional design options that deserves more scholarly interest and attention.