5 replies to this topic

[Guardian]

Interesting article I found in the New York Times, on its web site front page news. It talks about how the US Constitution is losing popularity around the world, since WWII. Back then, democratic countries would want a national constitution to be like the United States. However, the start of the 1980s saw a decline in that aspect and is still continuing today. Also, the "We the People" document is the most difficult to amend in the world, citing of all things, the Second Amendment as an example.

For such documents that are examples of "keeping up with the times" are made in India, South Africa and New Zealand.

The NYT article points out that a new constitutional superpower has come. It comes in the form of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. According to a former president of the Supreme Court of Israel, in his words, Canadian law and the Charter is now seen as an inspiration to countries that want various freedoms in their current constitutions, too.

Link: http://www.nytimes.c...ld.html?_r=1

[Alexjc]

Guardian, on 06 February 2012 - 01:46 PM, said:

...For such documents that are examples of "keeping up with the times" are made in India, South Africa and New Zealand.

Guardian, please elaborate?

[GoNutz]

Hmm could be, but does anyone care? I mean it's like how many "new" country's could there be and are they really writing new constitution's alot? It seems like it is something trivial that someone wrote up as a column because they couldn't come up with any other idea's, or it's a semi-veiled attempt at anti-Americanism which coming from NYT is a huge possiblity.

[Guardian]

Here's the Foreign Policy point of view article about this topic: http://blog.foreignp...ng_out_of_style.

Well, some say that, when some countries write their constitutions in the past, they want to have one like the Americans. Now, with bad situations and "Constitution bashing and backlash" from both the Republicans and Democrats since the 1980s, some national governments could end up seeing the "We the People" document as a "document to American imperialism over the world and exceptional self-entitlement."

[GoNutz]

Well they may, of course bundled together in those other documents are severe restrictions on actual freedom's that American's enjoy. Things like hate-speech regulation (a.k.a. the law that no one is allowed to have their feelings hurt.) I'll pass on that one, but if they want it more power to them.

[4seasonscentre]

Constitutional Monarchies.... hard to find a bad one