€480,000 for Research Project on Developing Constitutions

Photo: UHH/Röttger Jerg Gutmann To what extent does the process of creating a constitution influence its content and a population's adherence and acceptance? Now an international research team from Universität Hamburg and Warsaw are attempting to answer these questions. The German Research Foundation and the National Science Center of Poland are funding the 3-year project with €480,000. The project is set to begin in 2024. The success of a national constitution depends on, among other things, its longevity and whether or not its rules are followed. In their new research project, Spielt Verfassungsgebung eine Rolle? Die Ökonomik des Verfassens von Gesellschaftsverträgen, researchers will now look at how the conditions in which a constitution is created impact its success. To do so, they will gather and statistically evaluate historical data to analyze the procedures used to develop constitutions the world over in the past several decades. They will also conduct surveys and behavioral experiments to determine the acceptance of these constitutions today.