Exporting American Freedoms, in Model, Resource, or Outlier? What Effect Has the U.S. Constitution Had on the Recently Adopted Constitutions of Other Nations?

Authors

Ronald D. Rotunda, Chapman University, Fowler School of LawFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-17-2013

Abstract

The United States Constitution, the world’s oldest written design of government, was a novel political development in the 18th century. No nation previously had adopted a written instrument to create and limit its national government. But it has been more than 200 years since our Constitution and Bill of Rights came into being, and numerous other nations have adopted their own written organic political instruments since then. Have those nations looked to the U.S. Constitution as a model or a resource for their own constitutions, or has the U.S. Constitution become an outlier in the world? If the latter, what does that say about the structure and substance of our Constitution and how it is considered in the international community?

Recommended Citation

Rotunda, Ronald D., Exporting American Freedoms, in Model, Resource, or Outlier? What Effect Has the U.S. Constitution Had on the Recently Adopted Constitutions of Other Nations?, at 12 (Heritage Foundation, May 17, 2013).

Copyright

Heritage Foundation