Despite the Routledge imprint this book is a US‐produced title first published by Congressional Quarterly in 1995. The author is a Washington DC attorney specializing in international law who has served as an adviser on constitutional issues to several nations. He is also responsible for another new Routledge title, The Illustrated Dictionary of Constitutional Concepts[1]. Covering 80 countries “selected on the basis of their importance and size ... as well as judgement as to which constitutions most people would be interested in learning about”, this book offers summary information on constitutional frameworks. Country entries, arranged alphabetically Algeria‐Zimbabwe, are structured under standard headings. These include general information and constitutional history followed by fundamental rights, division of power, executive, legislature, judiciary and amending the constitution, grouped together under “The constitution”. Throughout treatment is at the level of a general survey. The main features of each state’s constitutional arrangements are presented and briefly discussed, but there is no reproduction of full constitutional documents or detailed analysis.
As a summary of the constitutional structures of most major nation states this book has many valuable features. Particularly helpful are the standard headings employed for each country section. This not only allows the rapid location of detail on particular topics (for example those needing a brief outline of the role of the courts in Poland can swiftly locate basic detail under the heading “judiciary” within the four‐page entry for that country) but makes for easy comparison. For instance, those interested in contrasting procedures for changing constitutions have such detail helpfully set out for each country under the heading “amending the constitution”. Also reinforcing this comparative role is a useful table, “Constitutions at a glance”. Spread over nearly five preliminary pages this gives detail on type of government (constitutional monarchy, presidential republic, etc.), type of state (unitary, federal, etc.), date of most recent constitution, type of legislature, how constitutions are reviewed and whether there is an ombudsman or equivalent.
Where this book is less successful is in the quality and quantity of supplementary detail. Ironically, whereas information on constitutions is carefully structured, basic data on each nation such as population are not clearly displayed but buried in the “general information” opening paragraphs of each country section. Likewise, supporting detail is not as thorough as one might have expected in a reference book of this type. While there is an adequate index and a useful 50‐term glossary, the bibliography, or “List of sources” at only about 75 items, seems rather token. Most important, however, is the absence of supporting documentation in the form of reproductions of actual constitutions. While occasional extracts are provided to illustrate particular characteristics, this absence limits the work’s overall utility and authority. As a result major general libraries or those with specialist interests in constitutional matters will continue to rely on the heavyweight reference work in the field, Constitutions of the Countries of the World[2]with its “full text” features. Smaller libraries might well be tempted by this volume although some might feel £50 is too much to pay when information on constitutions can frequently be found in general encyclopedias or politics‐related reference works.
