The process of building democracy in complex transitions is a daunting but necessary task.

The design of political, institutional and legal systems can play a critical role in ensuring the sustainability and the advancement of democratic systems, by providing adequate mechanisms to manage conflicts within limits of peaceful coexistence and by promoting consensus around a set of core principles.

This Policy Paper aims to assist Iraq’s political and social leaders, as well as international community actors who are providing technical, financial and political support to the transition process in Iraq by providing learning from past experiences of constitution-building processes.

The paper presents different options and their likely impact.