State-Building, Nation-Building, and Constitutional Politics in Post-Conflict Situations: Conceptual Clarifications and an Appraisal of Different Approaches

Abstract

I. Defining the Issues 1. A Useful Distinction a. State Failure and State-Building b. Nation Failure and Nation-Building c. The Habitus of Obedience to Law 2. Foreign Intervention and the Promotion of Democracy a. The Policy of the United States b. The Policy of the United Nations II. Constitutional Politics 1. Constitutional Nation-Building 2. Collective Identity and Constitutional Identity 3. The Procedural Aspect: Democracy, Elite Consensus, and Foreign Intervention a. The South African Constitution b. The Afghan Constitution c. The Cypriot Constitution 4. The Institutional Aspect: Strong Leadership or Consensual Democracy? III. Conclusion