Doctoral Dissertation Research: Participatory Constitution-Making in Africa

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

In 1988, Uganda embarked on an innovative constitution-making process that lasted eight years. The novelty of the process centered on the extensive involvement of the general public in the creation of a new constitution. Although there is considerable interest in this model among policy-makers, there is little empirical research investigating the effectiveness of such a process. This project will study the effects of public participation in the constitution-making process on democratic attitudes, political behaviors, and civic knowledge. It will test the hypotheses that participation in the constitution-making activities heightened citizen interest in politics, fostered attachment to democratic principles, led to greater political involvement, and increased knowledge of political issues within the general population. The methodology includes in-depth interviews, surveys of the general public, and evaluation of primary materials from public and private archives in Uganda. The surveys will be conducted using a multi-state area sampling process so the results will amenable to statistical analysis.