Chairs
Akiko Ejima ejima@meiji.ac.jp
Maartje de Visser mdevisser@smu.edu.sg

Human rights, democracy and the rule of law have been chanted like mantras and core elements of constitutionalism across the world, but to what extent do they denote the same thing? To what extent can their presence be accurately compared between countries? How can we measure and assess the extent to which they are realized? This workshop will critically examine human rights, democracy and the rule of law in different countries, seeking ways to measure and assess these essential concepts. For example, indicators such as Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem), the Gender Gap Ranking (WEF) and Freedom in the World Report (Freedom House) need to be examined to determine how helpful those indicators are and what challenges arise in relation to their usage. Moreover, empirical studies (particularly quantitative methods) are increasingly seen as the key to grasping and understanding on the ground conditions in different countries, even challenging established theories. The workshop attempts to connect the real world with the basic constitutional principles of human rights, democracy and the rule of law, while critically examining the methodology of constitutional legal studies. It also aims to offer an effective tool to analyze the main theme of the World Congress: Sustainable Constitutionalism.