Does Parchment Matter? Constitutions and Freedom

Abstract

Despite much theoretical discussion the enforceability of constitutional constraints, the question has received little empirical attention. After discussing the theoretical arguments for and against the proposition that constitutions are capable of protecting individual liberty against encroachment by the state, I use the Reporters without Borders index of press freedom and a content analysis of national constitutions to ask whether constitutions protect freedom. I find that, controlling for a number of other factors, constitutional prohibition of censorship is correlated with higher levels of press freedom, and that constitutions seem to be most effective at times when liberty is most at risk. Constitutions, though, are not binding rules which preclude particular actions by government, but as constraints which reduce the likelihood of certain political outcomes. The results reveal both the strengths and limitations of the constitutionalist project of James M. Buchanan and other Pubic Choice scholars.