A Practical Guide to Constitution Building: Principles and Cross-cutting Themes

This paper appears as chapter 2 of International IDEA’s publication A Practical Guide to Constitution Building. It focuses on constitutional principles. The paper starts by setting out the role of constitutional principles as embodying values, creating agreement, and informing the meaning of the constitution. Next the paper addresses how to enshrine and enforce constitutional principles. It divides principles into directive and derived principles, the latter being unwritten and/or implied, and looks at the role of founding provisions and preambles in setting the state for constitutional principles. Finally, the paper looks at cross-cutting themes/principles and how various constitutions may address them. The themes discussed include: democratic governance, principles related to the rule of law, principles related to diversity, and principles related to gender, religion, and international law.