While much can be found on legal databases and websites, books, treatises, and encyclopedias are an equally important resource for researching comparative constitutional law. This page provides access to links to recommended introductory works, encyclopedias, specific journals, publisher series on topic, and searchable collections of theses and dissertations.
Ginsburg, Tom. Comparative Constitutional Design. Cambridge University Press, 2012.
This volume brings together essays by many of the leading scholars of comparative constitutional design from many perspectives to collectively assess what we know - and do not know - about the design process as well as particular institutional choices concerning executive power, constitutional amendment processes and many other issues.
Heringa, Aalt Willem. Constitutions Compared: An Introduction to Comparative Constitutional Law. 5th ed. Intersentia, 2019.
The 5th edition of this handbook provides a user-friendly introduction to comparative constitutional law. For each area of constitutional law, a general introduction and a comparative overview is provided, which is then followed by more detailed country chapters on that specific area.
Hirschl, Ran. Comparative Matters: The Renaissance of Comparative Constitutional Law. Oxford University Press, 2014.
In this book, Hirschl charts the intellectual history and analytical underpinnings of comparative constitutional inquiry, probing the various types, aims, and methodologies of engagement with the constitutive laws of others through the ages, and exploring how and why comparative constitutional inquiry has been and ought to be pursued by academics and jurists worldwide.
Jakab, András, Arthur Dyevre, and Giulio Itzcovish, eds. Comparative Constitutional Reasoning. Cambridge University Press, 2017.
Focusing on independently-verified leading cases globally, this work utilizes a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis to offer a comprehensive and systematic account of constitutional reasoning.
Masterman, Roger, and Robert Schütze, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Comparative Constitutional Law. Cambridge University Press, 2019.
This Cambridge Companion presents readers with a succinct yet wide-ranging companion to a modern comparative constitutional law course, offering a concise introduction to the subject.
Rosenfeld, Michel, and András Sajó, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Constitutional Law. Oxford University Press, 2012.
In this text, leading experts in the field examine the history and methodology of the discipline, the central concepts of constitutional law, constitutional processes, and institutions - from legislative reform to judicial interpretation, rights, and emerging trends.
Tushnet, Mark. Advanced Introduction to Comparative Constitutional Law. Elgar Advanced Introductions. Edward Elgar, 2014.
Through an analysis of topics at the cutting edge of contemporary scholarship, this authoritative study investigates constitution making, forms of constitutional review, proportionality analysis and its alternatives, and the development of a new transparency branch in constitutions around the world.
Tushnet, Mark, Thomas Fleiner, and Cheryl Saunders, eds. Routledge Handbook of Constitutional Law. 2013.
The Routledge Handbook features new, specially commissioned papers by a range of leading scholars from around the world and offers a comprehensive overview of the field as well as identifying promising avenues for future research.
Katz, Stanley N., ed. Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History. Oxford University Press, 2009. Digital. Also available in print.
This set contains entries on individual countries with information on their constitutional histories.
Kritzer, Herbert M., ed. Legal Systems of the World: A Political, Social, and Cultural Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, 2002. Print.
Though outdated, this encyclopedia is useful for researching the constitutional history of selected foreign jurisdictions.
Wolfrum, Rudiger, ed. Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law. Oxford University Press, 2012. Print.
Although the source focuses on public international law, there are over one hundred entries that are relevant to the field of comparative constitutional law.
Robbers, Gerhard, ed. Encyclopedia of World Constitutions. Facts on File, 2007. Print.
Although somewhat outdated, this set is still useful for historical background.
Smit, Jan M., ed. Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law. 2nd ed. Edward Elgar, 2012. Print.
Along with entries on individual countries, this volume includes sections on more general legal topics, including constitutional law.
R. David et al., eds. International Encyclopedia of Comparative Law. Oceana Press. Print.
This extensive work includes national reports that incorporate discussions of each nation’s constitutional system.
DART-Europe E-theses Portal is an open-access portal. It is a partnership of various European research libraries and library consortia. It provides access to theses from over 600 European universities. The database is multilingual.
Open Access Theses and Dissertations is an online collection of open-access theses and dissertations from around the globe. Over 1,000 education and research institutions are represented.
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global is a paywalled collection of dissertations and theses from around the world, with more than 2.5 million full-text works from universities around the world. It is available to the UNC community through UNC libraries.
