Contents

List ofcontributors ix

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction 1

1 Unconstitutional constitutional amendments as constitutional politics 3 REHAN ABEYRATNE AND NGOC SON BUI

PART I

Discursive model 21

2 The politics of unconstitutional constitutional amendments in

Japan: The case of the pacifist Article 9 23

KOICHI NAKANO

3 “State form” in the theory and practice of constitutional

change in modern China 46

RYAN MITCHELL

4 Unconstitutional constitution in Vietnamese discourse 67

NGOC SON BUI

PART II

Denotive model 85

5 The law and politics of unconstitutional constitutional

amendments in Malaysia 87

HP LEE AND YVONNE TEW

6 Amending constitutional standards of parliamentary piety in

Pakistan? Political and judicial debates 111

MATTHEW J NELSON

7 Limiting constituent power? Unconstitutional constitutional

amendments and time-bound constitution making in Nepal 133

MARA MALAGODI

PART III

Decisive model 151

8 Beyond unconstitutionality: The public oversight of

constitutional revision in Taiwan 153

JIUNN-RONG YEH

9 Thailand’s unamendability: Politics of two democracies 169

KHEMTHONG TONSAKULRUNGRUANG

10 Constitutional politics over (un)constitutional amendments:

The Indian experience 189

SURYA DEVA

11 The politics of unconstitutional amendments in Bangladesh 210

RIDWANUL HOQUE

PART IV

Commentaries 229

12 The power of judicial nullification in Asia and the world 231

RICHARD ALBERT

13 Is the “basic structure doctrine” a basic structure doctrine? 244

ANDREW HARDING

14 Eternity clauses as tools for exclusionary constitutional projects 257

SILVIA SUTEU

15 Why there?: Explanatory theories and institutional features

behind unconstitutional constitutional amendments in Asia 274

YANIV ROZNAI

Index

297