Contested sovereignties : Government and democracy in Middle Eastern and European perspectives / edited by Elisabeth Özdalga, Sune Persson.

Includes bibliographical footnotes.

Introduction / Elisabeth Özdalga and Sune Persson -- 1. Turkey -- Turkey's Constitutional Problem and the Search for a New Constitution / Ergun Özbudun -- Contesting " Sovereignty " : Turkey's Constitutional Problem in the Light of New Conceptualizations / Levent Köker -- The Second Constitutional Period of the Ottoman Empire : A Disputed Legacy / Vangelis Kechriotis -- Turkey, the Cultural Factor and European Union / İlkay Sunar -- 2. Sweden -- The Swedish Constitution of 1809 / Olof Petersson -- 3. The Middle East -- Ambition and Retreat : State-Building in Afghanistan and the Persistence of Informal Power / Dıpalı Mukhopadhyay -- Pakistan's Justice Sector : Defending or Diluting the Constitution ? / Staffan Darnolf -- Role and Strength of Institutions : the Contrasting Cases of Iran and Iraq / Sami Zubaida -- Consensus Democracy at its Limits : Lebanon in Search of Electoral Reform / Elizabeth Picard -- Ruling with or without a Constitution : Israel and Palestine / Sune Persson -- Is Monarchy Conpatible with Democracy? The Constitutional Framework and Royal Initiatives for Democracy in Jordan / Ann-Kristin Jonasson -- When Constitutional Amendments Mean Authoritarian Consolidation : The Case of Egypt / Chaymaa Hassabo -- Morocco's Monarchical Legacy and its Capacity to Implement Social Reforms / Florian Kohstall -- Europe - The European Union -- European Transnational Constitutionalism : End of History, or a Role for Legitimate Opposition / Sverker Gustavsson.

The relationship between constitutional arrangements and democratic developments has long been a topic of debate among political scientists and jurists. This new book explores these questions with special reference to the Middle East, where political instability and problems related to the consolidation of nation states are particularly acute. Taking the political crisis over the presidential election in Turkey in 2007 as its starting point, the book provides in depth analysis of how these events illustrated the ways in which the constitution and its supporting institutions could be mobilized for narrow and highly controversial political purposes. Questions of state sovereignty are then explored in the cases of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Palestine and Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Morocco, contrasting them with European examples such as Sweden's constitutional arrangement in relation to its monarchy, and the European Union's current constitutional transformation. This is an important book for students and scholars interested in contemporary and historical perspectives on issues of nation building, state sovereignty and democracy in Europe and the Middle East.