Research Article
Social and Political Foundations of Constitutionalism in the Middle East: The First Constitutional Movements in Tunisia, Ottoman Turkey, Egypt, and Iran
Abstract
Although constitutionalism movements have their roots in the efforts to limit the power of European monarchies beginning with Magna Carta, constitutionalism in the modern sense is the product of the global political and social conditions created by the French Revolution of 1789. In the 19th century, when empires struggled for power in Europe and global economic crises shook the world, constitutionalism appeared as a solution to these crises. In this context, in addition to global constitutional revolutions such as in Japan, Russia, Mexico, and China, the “Eastern” and Muslim societies of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) also struggled for their constitutional movements. Although they could not satisfy the expectations as a result of domestic and regional circumstances, the first constitutional movements in Tunisia (1861), Ottoman Turkey (1876), Egypt (1881), and Iran (1905) provided road maps for the modern nation-states of the following years. This study examines these constitutionalism movements in order to understand their social, political, and economic dynamics and organizational mechanisms, as well as their impact on today’s Middle Eastern politics.
Keywords
References
- 2012 Constitution . (2019, 11 29). Retrieved from Egypt’s 2012 Constitution: https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/eg/eg047en.pdf
- (2019, 11 19). Retrieved from Encyclopedia: https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/fundamental-pact
- (2019, 11 19). Retrieved from Britannica Encyclopædia: https://www.britannica.com/place/Tunisia/History
- Albrecht, H. (2013). Egypt’s 2012 Constitution Devil in the Details, Not in Religion. United States Institute of Peace, 1-4.
- Antoni Abat i Ninet, M. T. (2015). The Arab Spring: An Essay on Revolution and Constitutionalism. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
- Arjomand, S. A. (2019, 12 03). Civil society and the Rule of Law in the Constitutional Politics of Iran Under Khatami –Iranian president Mohammad Khatami. Retrieved from http://www.iranchamber.com/: http://www.iranchamber.com/government/articles/civil_society_politics_iran_khatami.php
- BBCNEWS. (2019, 11 28). Retrieved from Egypt’s President Mursi assumes sweeping powers: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-20451208
- Bernoussi, Z. E. (2017, 11 06). Tunisia’s long history of constitutionalism. Retrieved 11 23, 2019, from https://jmepp.hkspublications.org/2017/11/06/tunisia-history-constitutionalism/
- Borowiec, A. (1998). Modern Tunisia A Democratic Apprenticeship. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger.
- Boztaş, A. (2013). Assessment of Legislative Function Within Turkish Democracy. Doğuş Üniversitesi Dergisi, 45 -55.
- Broadley, A. M. (1882). The last Punic war: Tunis, past and present. Edinburgh, Scotland: Blackwood.
- Brown, N. J. (2002). Constitutions in a Nonconstitutional World: Arab Basic Laws and the Prospects for Accountable Government. Albany: State University of New York.
- Cem, İ. (2007). The History of Backwardness in. İstanbul: Turkiye Iş Bankasi Kultur Publications.
- Cleveland, W. L., & Bunton., M. (2009). A Hsitory of the Modern Middle East. Boulder: Westview Press.
- Cole, J. R. (1993). Colonialism And Revolution in The Middle East Social And Cultural Origins Of Egypt’s Urabi Movement. Princeton: Princeton Universıty Press.
- Constitution of Tunisia. (2019, 11 24). Retrieved from https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/tn/tn028en.pdf
- Constitutionnet. (2019, 11 24). Constitutional history of Tunisia. Retrieved from http://constitutionnet.org/country/tunisia
- Ehteshami, A., & Zweiri, M. (2007). Iran and the Rise of its Neoconservatives The Politics of Tehran’s Silent Revolution. New York: I.B.Tauris & Co.
- Enayat, H. (2013). Law, State, and Society in Modern Iran Constitutionalism, Autocracy, and Legal Reform, 1906– 1941. Palgrave.
- Encyclepedia Iranica. (2019, 12 02). Retrieved from Constitution Of The Islamic Republic: http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/constitution-of-the-islamic-republic
- Fasone, C. (2019, 11 21). New trends in Constitution-Making: the cases of Tunisia and Egypt. Retrieved from http://tesi.luiss.it/22885/1/632772_GUMROIAN_KRISTINA_Kristina%20Gumroian%20Thesis.pdf
- Globalsecurity. (2019, 11 28). Russo-Turkish War 1877-1878. Retrieved from https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/russo-turkish.htm
- Globalsecurity.org. (2019, 11 23). Constitution of 1861. Retrieved from https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/tunisia/husseinids-2.htm
- GNAT. (2019, 11 27). The Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Retrieved from https://global.tbmm.gov.tr/index.php/EN/yd/icerik/12
- Gözler, K. (2019, 11 28). Retrieved 11 28, 2019, from Turkish Constitutional Law: http://www.anayasa.gen.tr/law104-english.htmü
- Gözler, K. (2019, 11 27). Ottoman Constitutional Developments. Retrieved from http://www.anayasa.gen.tr/law104-english.htm
- Hanioğlu, M. Ş. (2008). A Brief History of the Late Ottoman Empire. Oxford: Princeton University Press.
- Hashish, A. (2013). The Egyptian Second Republic: The Future of Litigating Islam Before the Supreme Constitutional Court. Berkeley J. Of Mıddle Eastern & Islamıc Law, 122.
- Horowitz, R. (2019, 12 01). World Policy. Retrieved from A Detailed Analysis of Iran’s Constitution: https://worldpolicy.org/2010/10/12/a-detailed-analysis-of-irans-constitution/
- In Actio. (2019, 11 01). Retrieved from Exhibition: History of Egyptian Parliaments and Constitutions: http://inactio.org/en/portfolio-item/exhibition-egyptian-parliaments-constitutions/
- İnalcık, H. (2005). A Synopsis of the Ottoman Money and Economy History. İstanbul: Dogu-Bati Publications.
- Kaynar, E. (2016). Le Consitutionnalisme au Moyen-Orient. Des Tanzimat à la la Révolution jeune-turque. Retrieved 11 26, 2019, from Politika: https://politika.io/fr/notice/constitutionnalisme-au-moyenorient#1
- Khalil, M. E. (2016). Early Modern Constitutionalism in Egypt and Iran. Journal of Islamic and Near Eastern Law, 33-54. Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/content/qt0mc7w75w/qt0mc7w75w.pdf?t=oc5k80
- Korkut, H. (2016). Critical Analysis of the Ottoman Constitution (1876). Epiphany: Journal of Transdisciplinary Studies, 114-123.
- Long, R. (2005). British Pro-Consuls in Egypt, 1914-1929: The Challenge of Nationalism. London: RoutledgeCurzon .
- Martin, V. (2011). State, Power and Long-term Trends in the Iranian Constitution of 1906 and its Supplement of 1907. Middle Eastern Studies, 461–476.
- Masr, M. (2019, 11 28). Egyptian Constitutions. Retrieved from www.midanmasr.com/en/datafile
- Matin, K. (2016). The Enlightenment and Historical Difference: The Case of Iran’s. In A. M. Ansari, Iran’s Constitutional Revolution of 1906 Narratives of the Enlightenment (pp. 76-97). Spain: Liberdúplex.
- Mentiply, D. J. (2019, 11 28). The British Invasion of Egypt, 1882. Retrieved from E-International Relations 2019: https://www.e-ir.info/2009/03/23/the-british-invasion-of-egypt-1882/
- Mirrazavi, F. (2019, 11 29). Iranreview. Retrieved from Constitution House of Tabriz: http://www.iranreview.org/content/Documents/Constitution_House_of_Tabriz.htm
- Özbudun, E. (2019, 11 22). Constitutional Design in Islamic Countries: Comparative Notes on Turkey, Egypt, and Tunisia. Istanbul: Istanbul Şehir University.
- Pamuk, Ş. (1990). The History of the Ottoman-Turkey Economy. İstanbul: Gercek Press.
- Parliament of Australia . (2019, 11 21). Retrieved from https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/House_of_Representatives/About_the_House_Magazine/Magna_Carta
- Ramazani, R. K. (1980). Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Middle East Journal, 181-204.
- Rougierand, B., & Lacroix, S. (2016). Egypt’s Revolutions Politics, Religion, and Social Movements . (C. Schoch, Trans.) Palgrave Macmillan.
- Saffari, S. (2009). The Legitimation of the Clergy’s Right to Rule in the Iranian Constitution of 1979. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 64-82.
- Sheikhzadegan, A. (2017). The Trajectory of the 1953 Military Coup and the Course of Liberal Islam in Iran: A Sociological Analysis. In A. Sheikhzadegan, & A. Meier, Beyond the Islamic Revolution Perceptions of Modernity and Tradition in Iran before and after 1979 (pp. 31-59). Berlin: De Gruyter.
- Sohrabi, N. (2011). Revolution and Constitutionalism in the Ottoman Empire and Iran. New York: Cambridge.
- Stanford, J. S., & Ezel, K. S. (1977). History Of The Ottoman Empire And Modern Turkey Volume II: Reform, Revolution, and Republic: The Rise of Modern Turkey, 1808-1975. Cambridge: Oxford.
- The Constitution of Tunisia. (1959). Retrieved 11 24, 2019, from https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/tn/tn028en.pdf
- Toussaint, E. (2019, 11 16). Debt: how France appropriated Tunisia. Retrieved from Committee For The Abolition Of Illegitimate Debt: https://www.cadtm.org/Debt-how-France-appropriated
- Waluchow, W. (2019, 11 20). Constitutionalism. Retrieved from The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy : https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/constitutionalism/
- Zürcher, E. J. (2019). The Young Turk revolution: comparisons and connections. Middle Eastern Studies, 481-498.
Social and Political Foundations of Constitutionalism in the Middle East: The First Constitutional Movements in Tunisia, Ottoman Turkey, Egypt, and Iran
Abstract
Although constitutionalism movements have their roots in the efforts to limit the power of European monarchies beginning with Magna Carta, constitutionalism in the modern sense is the product of the global political and social conditions created by the French Revolution of 1789. In the 19th century, when empires struggled for power in Europe and global economic crises shook the world, constitutionalism appeared as a solution to these crises. In this context, in addition to global constitutional revolutions such as in Japan, Russia, Mexico, and China, the “Eastern” and Muslim societies of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) also struggled for their constitutional movements. Although they could not satisfy the expectations as a result of domestic and regional circumstances, the first constitutional movements in Tunisia (1861), Ottoman Turkey (1876), Egypt (1881), and Iran (1905) provided road maps for the modern nation-states of the following years. This study examines these constitutionalism movements in order to understand their social, political, and economic dynamics and organizational mechanisms, as well as their impact on today’s Middle Eastern politics.
Keywords
References
- 2012 Constitution . (2019, 11 29). Retrieved from Egypt’s 2012 Constitution: https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/eg/eg047en.pdf
- (2019, 11 19). Retrieved from Encyclopedia: https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/fundamental-pact
- (2019, 11 19). Retrieved from Britannica Encyclopædia: https://www.britannica.com/place/Tunisia/History
- Albrecht, H. (2013). Egypt’s 2012 Constitution Devil in the Details, Not in Religion. United States Institute of Peace, 1-4.
- Antoni Abat i Ninet, M. T. (2015). The Arab Spring: An Essay on Revolution and Constitutionalism. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
- Arjomand, S. A. (2019, 12 03). Civil society and the Rule of Law in the Constitutional Politics of Iran Under Khatami –Iranian president Mohammad Khatami. Retrieved from http://www.iranchamber.com/: http://www.iranchamber.com/government/articles/civil_society_politics_iran_khatami.php
- BBCNEWS. (2019, 11 28). Retrieved from Egypt’s President Mursi assumes sweeping powers: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-20451208
- Bernoussi, Z. E. (2017, 11 06). Tunisia’s long history of constitutionalism. Retrieved 11 23, 2019, from https://jmepp.hkspublications.org/2017/11/06/tunisia-history-constitutionalism/
- Borowiec, A. (1998). Modern Tunisia A Democratic Apprenticeship. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger.
- Boztaş, A. (2013). Assessment of Legislative Function Within Turkish Democracy. Doğuş Üniversitesi Dergisi, 45 -55.
- Broadley, A. M. (1882). The last Punic war: Tunis, past and present. Edinburgh, Scotland: Blackwood.
- Brown, N. J. (2002). Constitutions in a Nonconstitutional World: Arab Basic Laws and the Prospects for Accountable Government. Albany: State University of New York.
- Cem, İ. (2007). The History of Backwardness in. İstanbul: Turkiye Iş Bankasi Kultur Publications.
- Cleveland, W. L., & Bunton., M. (2009). A Hsitory of the Modern Middle East. Boulder: Westview Press.
- Cole, J. R. (1993). Colonialism And Revolution in The Middle East Social And Cultural Origins Of Egypt’s Urabi Movement. Princeton: Princeton Universıty Press.
- Constitution of Tunisia. (2019, 11 24). Retrieved from https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/tn/tn028en.pdf
- Constitutionnet. (2019, 11 24). Constitutional history of Tunisia. Retrieved from http://constitutionnet.org/country/tunisia
- Ehteshami, A., & Zweiri, M. (2007). Iran and the Rise of its Neoconservatives The Politics of Tehran’s Silent Revolution. New York: I.B.Tauris & Co.
- Enayat, H. (2013). Law, State, and Society in Modern Iran Constitutionalism, Autocracy, and Legal Reform, 1906– 1941. Palgrave.
- Encyclepedia Iranica. (2019, 12 02). Retrieved from Constitution Of The Islamic Republic: http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/constitution-of-the-islamic-republic
- Fasone, C. (2019, 11 21). New trends in Constitution-Making: the cases of Tunisia and Egypt. Retrieved from http://tesi.luiss.it/22885/1/632772_GUMROIAN_KRISTINA_Kristina%20Gumroian%20Thesis.pdf
- Globalsecurity. (2019, 11 28). Russo-Turkish War 1877-1878. Retrieved from https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/russo-turkish.htm
- Globalsecurity.org. (2019, 11 23). Constitution of 1861. Retrieved from https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/tunisia/husseinids-2.htm
- GNAT. (2019, 11 27). The Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Retrieved from https://global.tbmm.gov.tr/index.php/EN/yd/icerik/12
- Gözler, K. (2019, 11 28). Retrieved 11 28, 2019, from Turkish Constitutional Law: http://www.anayasa.gen.tr/law104-english.htmü
- Gözler, K. (2019, 11 27). Ottoman Constitutional Developments. Retrieved from http://www.anayasa.gen.tr/law104-english.htm
- Hanioğlu, M. Ş. (2008). A Brief History of the Late Ottoman Empire. Oxford: Princeton University Press.
- Hashish, A. (2013). The Egyptian Second Republic: The Future of Litigating Islam Before the Supreme Constitutional Court. Berkeley J. Of Mıddle Eastern & Islamıc Law, 122.
- Horowitz, R. (2019, 12 01). World Policy. Retrieved from A Detailed Analysis of Iran’s Constitution: https://worldpolicy.org/2010/10/12/a-detailed-analysis-of-irans-constitution/
- In Actio. (2019, 11 01). Retrieved from Exhibition: History of Egyptian Parliaments and Constitutions: http://inactio.org/en/portfolio-item/exhibition-egyptian-parliaments-constitutions/
- İnalcık, H. (2005). A Synopsis of the Ottoman Money and Economy History. İstanbul: Dogu-Bati Publications.
- Kaynar, E. (2016). Le Consitutionnalisme au Moyen-Orient. Des Tanzimat à la la Révolution jeune-turque. Retrieved 11 26, 2019, from Politika: https://politika.io/fr/notice/constitutionnalisme-au-moyenorient#1
- Khalil, M. E. (2016). Early Modern Constitutionalism in Egypt and Iran. Journal of Islamic and Near Eastern Law, 33-54. Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/content/qt0mc7w75w/qt0mc7w75w.pdf?t=oc5k80
- Korkut, H. (2016). Critical Analysis of the Ottoman Constitution (1876). Epiphany: Journal of Transdisciplinary Studies, 114-123.
- Long, R. (2005). British Pro-Consuls in Egypt, 1914-1929: The Challenge of Nationalism. London: RoutledgeCurzon .
- Martin, V. (2011). State, Power and Long-term Trends in the Iranian Constitution of 1906 and its Supplement of 1907. Middle Eastern Studies, 461–476.
- Masr, M. (2019, 11 28). Egyptian Constitutions. Retrieved from www.midanmasr.com/en/datafile
- Matin, K. (2016). The Enlightenment and Historical Difference: The Case of Iran’s. In A. M. Ansari, Iran’s Constitutional Revolution of 1906 Narratives of the Enlightenment (pp. 76-97). Spain: Liberdúplex.
- Mentiply, D. J. (2019, 11 28). The British Invasion of Egypt, 1882. Retrieved from E-International Relations 2019: https://www.e-ir.info/2009/03/23/the-british-invasion-of-egypt-1882/
- Mirrazavi, F. (2019, 11 29). Iranreview. Retrieved from Constitution House of Tabriz: http://www.iranreview.org/content/Documents/Constitution_House_of_Tabriz.htm
- Özbudun, E. (2019, 11 22). Constitutional Design in Islamic Countries: Comparative Notes on Turkey, Egypt, and Tunisia. Istanbul: Istanbul Şehir University.
- Pamuk, Ş. (1990). The History of the Ottoman-Turkey Economy. İstanbul: Gercek Press.
- Parliament of Australia . (2019, 11 21). Retrieved from https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/House_of_Representatives/About_the_House_Magazine/Magna_Carta
- Ramazani, R. K. (1980). Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Middle East Journal, 181-204.
- Rougierand, B., & Lacroix, S. (2016). Egypt’s Revolutions Politics, Religion, and Social Movements . (C. Schoch, Trans.) Palgrave Macmillan.
- Saffari, S. (2009). The Legitimation of the Clergy’s Right to Rule in the Iranian Constitution of 1979. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 64-82.
- Sheikhzadegan, A. (2017). The Trajectory of the 1953 Military Coup and the Course of Liberal Islam in Iran: A Sociological Analysis. In A. Sheikhzadegan, & A. Meier, Beyond the Islamic Revolution Perceptions of Modernity and Tradition in Iran before and after 1979 (pp. 31-59). Berlin: De Gruyter.
- Sohrabi, N. (2011). Revolution and Constitutionalism in the Ottoman Empire and Iran. New York: Cambridge.
- Stanford, J. S., & Ezel, K. S. (1977). History Of The Ottoman Empire And Modern Turkey Volume II: Reform, Revolution, and Republic: The Rise of Modern Turkey, 1808-1975. Cambridge: Oxford.
- The Constitution of Tunisia. (1959). Retrieved 11 24, 2019, from https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/tn/tn028en.pdf
- Toussaint, E. (2019, 11 16). Debt: how France appropriated Tunisia. Retrieved from Committee For The Abolition Of Illegitimate Debt: https://www.cadtm.org/Debt-how-France-appropriated
- Waluchow, W. (2019, 11 20). Constitutionalism. Retrieved from The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy : https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/constitutionalism/
- Zürcher, E. J. (2019). The Young Turk revolution: comparisons and connections. Middle Eastern Studies, 481-498.
There are 53 citations in total.
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal Section | Makaleler |
| Authors | |
| Publication Date | August 25, 2022 |
| Submission Date | April 14, 2022 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2022 Volume: 8 Issue: 2 |
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