Conclusion
To sum up, the chapter began by looking into the various typologies that amendment constraints can take. A conceptual framework was introduced and a classification scheme based on two dimensions (limitation and explicitness) was provided for future research.
Then, the strands of theory justifying the introduction of amendment constraints were critically presented with eternity clauses as the vehicle. After their examination, it has been showed that all justification provided thus far fail to formulate an effective criterion for distinguishing justified against unjustified eternity clauses. The protective theories are unrealistic in their assumptions, while the symbolic value theories remain simply descriptive. As a result, the chapter proposes a novel justification of amendment constraints, i.e., through the expected reduction of wasteful investment in redistributing rents in a society. In the last section, the theory was put to the test by examining whether it could be used to formulate an objective test that could inform the framers ex ante whether entrenching certain provision is justified.The criterion proposed can help us ex post measure the justifiability of eternity clauses; however, it does not inform us on the determinants of the introduction of such constraints. Subsequently, further research is needed towards that direction. Having a theory through which to set a benchmark, it is possible for future research to measure to what extent this benchmark is used or to what extent framers conduct such a calculus before they decide upon which provisions to entrench. Only then, can we formulate expectation on the extent to which rational framers take into consideration the justifiability of the amendment constraint in their decision to include eternity clauses in the constitution.
Acknowledgements I would like to thank Prof. Richard Albert, Prof. Stefan Voigt, Stephan Michel, Jerg Gutmann, Tobias Hlobil and all the participants of the Workshop on Unamendable Constitutional Provisions, Koc University, Istanbul, 9 June 2015 for their valuable comments and feedback.