Political constitutionalism, broadly defined as the subjection of rulers to the rule of law, checks and balances and competing centres of power, took one step forward and two steps back this week.
First the good news. By a large margin Turkish voters approved amendments to their constitution. Among other things the changes remove Article 15, an obstacles to the prosecution of Generals involved in the 1980 coup, and reform the High Council for Judges and Prosecutors and the Constitutional Court. While on the face of it these reforms, increasing Parliamentary scrutiny and control over the judiciary, are problematic, the reality in the Turkish context is that they, together with recent reforms to the National Security Council, all help to prise off the tentacles of the 'deep state' from Turkish political life. The real test will come however when, at some point in the future, the AKP is democratically defeated at the polls: that transfer of power will be the real test for Turkey's institutions.
However, in Russia strong men again are preferred over strong institutions. As the video below shows, Putin gave his clearest indication yet that he plans to return to the Presidency, mentioning Roosevelt's four terms as U.S. President. Constitutionalism is respected in words not in spirit. This is deeply damaging to the fabric of democracy that Medvedev claims to want to foster.
And in Nigeria the fragile, and unwritten, consociationalism that is part of the elite power sharing agreement between the Muslim north and Christian south may be at risk given the crisis occasioned by President Umaru Yar'Adua's early death.
