Constitutions in a Nonconstitutional World: Arab Basic Laws and the Prospects for Accountable Government

Uses the Arab experience to explain the appeal of constitutional documents to authoritarian political regimes.

The collapse of authoritarian regimes and the global resurgence of liberal democracy has led to a renewed interest in constitutions and constitutionalism among scholars and political activists alike. This book uses the Arab experience to explain the appeal of constitutional documents to authoritarian regimes and assesses the degree to which such constitutions can be used in the effort to make the regimes more accountable.