Democratisation and the Evolution of the Foreign Policy Content of North African Constitutions

Abstract

The unprecedented wave of constitutional reforms in North Africa in the wake of the Arab Spring provides a unique opportunity to study the evolution of the foreign policy content of constitutions in different political contexts. Using a cross-national statistical analysis of 195 national constitutions promulgated from 1974 to 2015, as well as an in-depth analysis of North African constitutional reforms from 2011 to 2016, this study finds that compared to dictatorships, democracies allocate less power to the executive in the realm of foreign policy. A comparison of the revised North African constitutions with their pre-Arab Spring predecessors also shows that while the foreign policy content of the Algerian and Moroccan constitutions did not change significantly, constitutional provisions in Tunisia and Egypt successfully limited executive power regarding foreign affairs.