Resumen de Locating democracy: Unwritten Constitutional Norms in Global Constitutionalism

Ruth Houghton

• Whether there is “a” global constitution is highly questionable. Indeed, whether there is a global constitutional order is debatable. But, if there is a global constitutional order, it is “unwritten”. That said, the theories of global constitutionalism and processes of global constitutionalization are derived from an amalgamation of sources from across international law and domestic constitutional orders. These sources, such as international treaties and political theses, are written sources, but they raise questions about the nature of the evidence that is used to evaluate the strength of global constitutionalism and the plausibility of global constitutionalization as well as raising methodological questions about where these sources are found. Focusing on democracy as a potential unwritten constitutional norm in global constitutionalism, this article reflects on the tensions that arise when interrogating the role of writing in the development of global constitutional norms.