| This dissertation presents a study of institutional factors that affect constitutional durability and change. Constitutions, both federal and state, exist as preeminent institutions of our political society. They purport to authorize and, at the same time, to bound the exercise of government power. Recent scholarship demonstrates that the very meaning of constitutional powers and limitations depends not merely on formal texts and judicial interpretations of that text, but also on overtly political actors such as legislators and executive officers. A constitution's meaning can be imparted, maintained, or changed, then, by political actors who implement the constitution through their pursuit of interests and ideas in the political arena. To provide a more complete understanding of constitutionalism, I show that we must focus not only on these political actors, but also on the institutional context within which they operate. I demonstrate that this context includes a wide range of institutions, such as social and religious institutions, and includes special effects of these institutions, such as constitutive effects that shape actors' very attitudes toward constitutional meaning, maintenance and change. In support of this argument, I make explicit use of qualitative social science methodology, including historical institutionalist analysis, to undertake a detailed case study and to illuminate the causal relationship between institutional effects and constitutional development. |
