The Youngest Constitutions on Earth

The newest constitutions cluster around political rupture. Syrias opposition era drafting, South Sudans 2011 transitional text, Fijis 2013 charter, Tunisias contested 2022 text, and Chiles rejected 2022 and 2023 drafts show the pattern, constitution making follows regime crisis.

Youth is a risk factor: scholars find constitutions are most likely to die in their early years. But recent texts also lead in ambition, with South Africas 1996 bill of rights, Kenyas 2010 devolution, and Nepals 2015 inclusion provisions writing lessons from failure directly into supreme law..