Constitution drafting has always been undertaken with explicit political purposes in mind. But the process has never been more ambitious, or more difficult, than today as politicians and experts seek to negotiate institutions that will foster stability and order on a democratic basis in countries torn by violent conflict. The extended research investigation out of which this book has grown has ranged across three continents and has examined such apparently intractable cases as Bosnia-Hercegovina, Sri Lanka and Fiji, as well as apparent success stories like South Africa and Uganda.