This paper examines the conditions under which African militaries seize power after constitutional changes in executive leadership. I argue that ethnic dynamics play a critical and underappreciated role in provoking military reactivity in such contexts. Elections, and particularly...

Post-World War II, much of international law and comparative law has been directed to the question of securing human rights. As rights jurisprudence developed, so too did a focus on national and international courts as the source of the basic guarantees owed to citizens by all states. As a...

This Article considers the process by which electoral reform ought to take place, focusing in particular on the democratic and constitutional constraints that bear on electoral reform. It outlines a number of possible process options — including a citizens' assembly, a commission, a...

Most democratic constitutions fail. The estimated half-life of a democratic constitution adopted between 1789 and 2005 is just sixteen years. This paper explores the conditions that foster constitutional and democratic survival. For democracy to survive, it must be self-enforcing in the sense...