Constitutional Reform
When and how countries reform their constitutions without replacing them entirely — reform commissions, citizen assemblies, and the politics of constitutional change.
Reform vs. Replacement
Most constitutional change happens through reform — amending or reinterpreting an existing document — rather than replacement. Germany has amended its Basic Law over 60 times. India has passed over 100 amendments. France's Fifth Republic Constitution has been amended 24 times. Even the US, with its famously rigid amendment process, has managed 27 amendments.
The triggers for reform vary. Sometimes a single crisis reveals a constitutional gap (the 25th Amendment on presidential succession was prompted by Kennedy's assassination). Sometimes accumulated dysfunction creates pressure for structural reform (repeated government instability drove France from the Fourth to the Fifth Republic). Sometimes social change renders existing provisions unacceptable (the 19th Amendment extending voting rights to women reflected decades of suffrage activism).