Thisvolumefocusesonconstitutionalratification,theprocedureinwhichadraftconstitutionissubmittedbyitscreatorstothepeopleortheirrepresentativesinanupordownvotedeterminingimplementation.Ratificationisincreasinglycommonandroutinelyrecommendedbyexperts.Nonetheless,itisneitherneutralnorinevitable.Constitutionscanbemadewithoutitandwhenitisusedithassignificanteffects.Thisraisesthecentralquestionofthebook:shouldratificationberecommended?Putanotherway:isthereareasonfortreatingtheprocedureasadefaultfortheconstitution-makingprocess?Surprisingly,thesequestionsarerarelyasked.Theprocedure’sworthisassumed,notdemonstrated,whileratificationisgenerallyoverlookedintheliterature.Infact,thisisthefirstsustainedstudyofratification.Toaddresstheseoversights,thisbookdefinesratificationanditstypes,explainstheprocedure’seffects,conceptualorigins,andhistory,andthenconcentratesonfindingreasonsforitsuse.Specifically,itbuildsupandanalyzesthethreemostlikelynormativejustifications.Theseurgetheimplementationofratificationbecausetheprocedure:enablestheconstituentpowertomakeitsconstitution;fostersrepresentationduringconstitution-making;orhelpscreatealegitimateconstitution.Ultimately,thesejustificationsarefoundwanting,leadingtotheconclusionthatratificationlacksaconvincing,context-independentjustification.Thus,untilnewargumentsaredeveloped,expertsshouldnotgiverecommendationsforratificationasamatterofcourse,practitionersshouldnotreachforituncritically,and-moregenerally-oneshouldavoidtheblanketapplicationofconceptsfromdemocratictheorytoextraordinarycontextssuchasconstitution-making.
