Conclusion

Abstract

For most citizens in democratic societies the existence of a constitution which gives legitimacy to their national political systems and guarantees human rights is one of the few undisputed fundamental prerequisites of democracy. Debates on constitutional questions in the established and, by post-cold war standards, “old” democracies — i.e., in the United States and Canada — do remind us, however, of the fact that constitutions have to be flexible and above all, have to respond adequately to pressures for change which stem from various sources, national as well as international ones. In the United States the problem of “relegitimizing government” (Brinkley 1997) has even provoked the question “whether the American political system has in fact failed as an experiment in democracy” (Polsby 1997: 161). In Canada we find similar doubts about fundamental constitutional principles. The literature is full of alarmist titles such as “Kanada in der Krise” (Schultze/Schneider 1997) (no question mark), “The Unmaking of Canada” as “hidden theme in Canadian history since 1945” (Chodos/Murphy/Hamovitch 1991) or “The Collapse of Canada?” (Weaver 1992).