Unstable Constitutionalism Law and Politics in South Asia

Although the field of constitutional law has become increasingly comparative in recent years, its geographic focus has remained limited. South Asia, despite being the site of the world's largest democracy and a vibrant if turbulent constitutionalism, is one of the important neglected regions within the field. This book remedies this lack of attention by providing a detailed examination of constitutional law and practice in five South Asian countries: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Identifying a common theme of volatile change, it develops the concept of 'unstable constitutionalism', studying the sources of instability alongside reactions and responses to it. By highlighting unique theoretical and practical questions in an underrepresented region, Unstable Constitutionalism constitutes an important step toward truly global constitutional scholarship.

Part I. Introduction: 1. Unstable constitutionalism Mark Tushnet and Madhav Khosla; 2. How to do constitutional law and politics in South Asia Sujit Choudhry; Part II. Forms and Sources of Instability: 3. The locus of sovereign authority in Nepal Mara Malagodi; 4. Representation, regime, and resistance in Nepal Mahendra Lawoti; 5. Constitutionalism and extra-constitutionalism in Pakistan Mohammad Waseem; 6. The judicialization of politics in Pakistan: the Supreme Court after the lawyers' movement Osama Siddique; 7. Elections in 'democratic' Bangladesh M. Jashim Ali Chowdhury; Part III. Reactions and Responses to Instability: 8. The Indian Supreme Court and the art of democratic positioning Pratap Bhanu Mehta; 9. The judicialization of politics in Bangladesh: pragmatism, legitimacy, and consequences Ridwanul Hoque; 10. Debating federalism in Sri Lanka and Nepal Rohan Edrisinha; 11. Constitutional form and reform in post-war Sri Lanka: towards a plurinational understanding Asanga Welikala; 12. Constitutional federalism in the Indian Supreme Court Sudhir Krishnaswamy.

Mark Tushnet is William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. His important works in the field of comparative constitutional law include Advanced Introduction to Comparative Constitutional Law (2014), The Routledge Handbook of Constitutional Law (co-edited, 2012) and the leading handbook, Weak Courts, Strong Rights: Judicial Review and Social Welfare Rights in Comparative Constitutional Law (2009).
Madhav Khosla is currently a PhD candidate at the Department of Government at Harvard University, Massachusetts. He is the author of The Indian Constitution (2012) and is currently co-editing the Oxford Handbook of Indian Constitutional Law.