This is the one hundred and seventieth episode of Public Interest Podcast with
Dr. Tom Ginsburg, Co-Founder and Chairman of the
Comparative Constitutions Project, Creator of
ConstitutionProject.org with Google Ideas,
Leo Spitz Professor International Law at the University of Chicago, author of 7 books, and former legal advisor to the Iran-US Claims Tribunal in The Hague, who speaks about the balance between freedom and security when drafting a constitution. Delving into the history of constitutional democracies, Dr. Ginsburg reveals that most constitutions last only 19 years on average, that 5-10 countries are engaged in writing a new constitution every year, and that of 193 United Nations recognized nations in the world, 191 have constitutions. He elaborates upon why certain constitutions enjoy greater longevity than others and offers his opinion that the purpose of a constitution is to ensure that both people within the society governed by a constitution and that democracy as an institution in that same society are able to thrive.
