Introduction

Summary

What is the relationship between transitions to democracy and constitutionalism? What role have constitutional courts played in the past in democratization processes? What “lessons” can be drawn from these experiences by countries – such as those involved in the “Arab Spring” – that are currently undergoing a transition from an authoritarian rule? These are some of the key questions this book addresses. Transitions to democracy, on the one hand, and constitutional justice, on the other, are topics that, each in its specific domain, have been the subject of numerous in-depth studies. Transition processes, especially in the early phases, have been analyzed mainly by historians, political scientists, sociologists, philosophers, and economists, and only at a later stage did legal scholars (particularly constitutional law scholars) start to examine these processes.