Examines how researchers can evaluate whether concepts and measures retain equivalent meanings across linguistic, cultural, and national contexts.
@unpublished{elkinswip_vodka,author={Elkins, Zachary and Sides, John},title={The Vodka is Potent, but the Meat is Rotten: Evaluating Equivalence across Contexts},year={Under revision},note={Revise and resubmit},category={Working Papers},keywords={data-methods},}
The Public Appetite for Constitutional Amendment in the United States
Investigates Americans’ demand for constitutional amendment and the historical and political conditions that shape support for formal constitutional change.
@unpublished{elkinswip_appetite,author={Elkins, Zachary and Lepore, Jill},title={The Public Appetite for Constitutional Amendment in the United States},year={Under revision},note={Revise and resubmit},category={Working Papers},keywords={constitutional-design, democracy},}
Under review
What Would Sartori Do? Concept Analysis in the Digital Age
@unpublished{elkinswip_sartori,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={What Would Sartori Do? Concept Analysis in the Digital Age},year={Under review},category={Working Papers},keywords={data-methods},}
Reassesses claims of an imperial American presidency by comparing U.S. executive lawmaking powers with those of presidents in other constitutional systems.
@unpublished{elkinswip_imperial,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom},title={Why U.S. Presidents Are Anything but Imperial},year={Under review},category={Working Papers},keywords={executive-power, democracy},}
Ostensions and the Micro-level Foundations of Policy Diffusion
Uses experimental evidence to study how concrete examples and demonstrations shape individual-level learning and the diffusion of policy ideas.
@unpublished{elkinswip_ostensions,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Ostensions and the Micro-level Foundations of Policy Diffusion},year={Under review},category={Working Papers},keywords={diffusion, data-methods},}
Under contract
Digital Semantics: Formal Methods of Concept Analysis
Develops formal and computational approaches to concept analysis and considers how they can extend established qualitative methods.
@unpublished{elkinswip_digital_semantics,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Digital Semantics: Formal Methods of Concept Analysis},year={Under contract},note={For Working with Concepts},category={Working Papers},keywords={data-methods},}
Is the Sky Falling, Part II: Constitutional Crises in Historical Perspective
Zachary Elkins
Under contract
For Constitutional Democracy in Crisis?, second edition
@unpublished{elkinswip_sky_falling_ii,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Is the Sky Falling, Part II: Constitutional Crises in Historical Perspective},year={Under contract},note={For Constitutional Democracy in Crisis?, second edition},category={Working Papers},keywords={constitutional-design, democracy},}
In preparation
Hard Limits, Soft Landings: How and Why to Induce Rotation in Power
Develops a comparative account of how constitutional systems can enforce rotation in executive power while reducing the risks of destabilizing political exits.
@unpublished{elkinswip_hard_limits,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom},title={Hard Limits, Soft Landings: How and Why to Induce Rotation in Power},year={In preparation},note={Book manuscript},category={Working Papers},keywords={constitutional-design, executive-power, democracy},}
Explores how language structures the transmission, interpretation, and adoption of ideas across political contexts.
@unpublished{elkinswip_language,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={On Language and Diffusion},year={In preparation},category={Working Papers},keywords={diffusion, data-methods},}
Elements of Inconsistency in Constitutional Design, Intended and Otherwise
Identifies forms of inconsistency within constitutional design and distinguishes purposeful tensions from unintended contradictions.
@unpublished{elkinswip_inconsistency,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Elements of Inconsistency in Constitutional Design, Intended and Otherwise},year={In preparation},category={Working Papers},keywords={constitutional-design, data-methods},}
Studies visible displays of partisan and national identity and the ways neighborhood context conditions political exhibitionism.
@unpublished{elkinswip_colors,author={Elkins, Zachary and Gaines, Brian},title={Showing Your Colors: Political Exhibitionism, Behavioral Patriotism, and Neighborhood Context},year={In preparation},category={Working Papers},keywords={democracy, human-rights},}
On Olives and Duckbill Platypi: Taxonomical Approaches to Partial Membership
Investigates how citizenship laws include or exclude ethnic groups and how those legal choices shape political incorporation.
@unpublished{elkinswip_citizenship,author={Elkins, Zachary and Sides, John},title={Citizenship Laws and Ethnic Group Incorporation},year={In preparation},category={Working Papers},keywords={democracy, human-rights, international-politics},}
Evaluates approaches to measuring similarity between texts and considers how alternative measures affect comparative inference.
@unpublished{elkinswip_similarity_shaffer,author={Shaffer, Robert and Elkins, Zachary},title={On Measuring Textual Similarity},year={In preparation},category={Working Papers},keywords={data-methods},}
Some Considerations in Building Measures of Similarity
Develops principles for constructing and validating measures of textual similarity for comparative constitutional research.
@unpublished{elkinswip_similarity,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom and Melton, James},title={Some Considerations in Building Measures of Similarity},year={In preparation},category={Working Papers},keywords={data-methods},}
Political Scientists Are from Mars, Historians Are from Venus: Concept Integration in the Social Sciences
@unpublished{elkinswip_mars_venus,author={Elkins, Zachary and Lepore, Jill},title={Political Scientists Are from Mars, Historians Are from Venus: Concept Integration in the Social Sciences},year={In preparation},category={Working Papers},keywords={data-methods},}
@unpublished{elkinswip_products,author={Elkins, Zachary and Gardner, Roy and Moran, Ashley},title={What Do You Work On? The Conceptualization of Intellectual Products},year={In preparation},category={Working Papers},keywords={data-methods},}
@unpublished{elkinswip_colonialism,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Legacies of Colonialism in Constitutional Architecture},year={In preparation},category={Working Papers},keywords={constitutional-design, international-politics},}
@unpublished{elkinswip_business,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={What if Government Were Run as a Business? And Who's in Charge Here, Anyway?},year={In preparation},category={Working Papers},keywords={executive-power, democracy},}
The Psychology of Decay and Destruction, or Things I Used to Think Mattered
Explores the psychological foundations of institutional decay and destruction, including how actors revise beliefs about what institutions matter.
@unpublished{elkinswip_decay,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={The Psychology of Decay and Destruction, or Things I Used to Think Mattered},year={In preparation},category={Working Papers},keywords={constitutional-design, data-methods},}
Constitutions as Land Surveys: How and Why Do States Define Territory?
@unpublished{elkinswip_land_surveys,author={Elkins, Zachary and Simmons, Beth},title={Constitutions as Land Surveys: How and Why Do States Define Territory?},year={In preparation},category={Working Papers},keywords={constitutional-design, international-politics},}
In development
Sartori
Zachary Elkins
In development
Software for organizing, comparing, and refining concepts
@misc{elkinsmedia_sartori,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Sartori},year={In development},note={Software for organizing, comparing, and refining concepts},category={Software and Multimedia},keywords={data-methods},}
Forthcoming
Steal this Constitution: Essays in the Drift and Mastery of Constitutional Design
A collection of essays on how constitutions borrow, drift, and evolve, and on how constitutional designers can understand and shape those processes.
@book{elkinsforthcoming_01,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Steal this Constitution: Essays in the Drift and Mastery of Constitutional Design},year={Forthcoming},note={Summary},category={Books},keywords={constitutional-design},}
Knowledge Representation in Comparative Law
Zachary Elkins
In , Forthcoming
in Diana Kapiszewski and Matthew Ingram (eds.) Data and Methods in the Comparative Study of Legal Institutions. Cambridge University Press
@incollection{elkinsforthcoming_33,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Knowledge Representation in Comparative Law},year={Forthcoming},note={in Diana Kapiszewski and Matthew Ingram (eds.) Data and Methods in the Comparative Study of Legal Institutions. Cambridge University Press},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={data-methods},}
2026
Working with Concepts: Foundational Essays by David Collier, with Research Notes on Innovation in the Field
Brings together David Collier’s foundational essays on concept formation and measurement, accompanied by research notes that connect those arguments to newer methodological innovations.
@book{elkinsforthcoming_02,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Working with Concepts: Foundational Essays by David Collier, with Research Notes on Innovation in the Field},year={2026},note={New York: Cambridge University Press},category={Books},keywords={data-methods},}
Linnaeus
Zachary Elkins
2026
A platform for creating and publishing structured collections of documents
@misc{elkinsmedia_linnaeus,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Linnaeus},year={2026},note={A platform for creating and publishing structured collections of documents},category={Software and Multimedia},keywords={data-methods},}
2024
Which Constitutional Provisions are the most Important?
Uses expert ratings of 340 provisions to identify which parts of constitutions matter most for government performance.
@article{elkins2024_04,author={Chilton, Adam and Versteeg, Mila and Elkins, Zachary and others},title={Which Constitutional Provisions are the most Important?},year={2024},note={European Journal for Empirical Legal Studies 1 (1)},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={constitutional-design},doi={10.2139/ssrn.4816553},}
Contrariness and Contradiction in Constitutional Law
In Ran Hirschl and Yaniv Roznai (eds.), Deciphering the Genome of Constitutionalism: Essays on Constitutional Identity in Honor of Gary J. Jacobsohn. Cambridge University Press
Distinguishes contradiction from broader forms of contrariness in constitutional law and considers what those relationships reveal about constitutional identity.
@incollection{elkins2024_34,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom},title={Contrariness and Contradiction in Constitutional Law},year={2024},note={In Ran Hirschl and Yaniv Roznai (eds.), Deciphering the Genome of Constitutionalism: Essays on Constitutional Identity in Honor of Gary J. Jacobsohn. Cambridge University Press},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design},doi={10.1017/9781009473194.031},}
2023
Measuring constitutional preferences: A new method for analyzing public consultation data
Develops an NLP-based method for identifying constitutional priorities in large-scale public consultation data, illustrated with Chile.
@article{elkins2023_05,author={Cruz, Andres and Elkins, Zachary and Gardner, Roy and Martin, Matt and Moran, Ashley},title={Measuring constitutional preferences: A new method for analyzing public consultation data},year={2023},note={PLOS One},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={constitutional-design, data-methods, latin-america},doi={10.1371/journal.pone.0295396},}
Examines how innovations in constitutional rights, drafting processes, and supporting institutions emerge and spread.
@article{elkins2022_06,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom},title={Ideation and Innovation in Constitutional Rights},year={2022},note={Journal of Law and Ethics of Human Rights 16(2): 217-244},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={constitutional-design, human-rights},doi={10.1515/lehr-2022-2009},}
Considers how quantitative measures of legal texts can identify disruption and change while remaining attentive to the meaning and structure of law.
@article{elkins2022_07,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom},title={On Disruption and Leximetrics},year={2022},note={International Journal of Constitutional Law 19(5): 1835-41},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={constitutional-design, data-methods, international-politics},}
Underestimated but Undeterred: The 27th Amendment and the Power of Tenacious Citizenship
Reconstructs the improbable two-century path to ratification of the Twenty-Seventh Amendment through interviews with its protagonists.
@article{elkins2022_08,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Underestimated but Undeterred: The 27th Amendment and the Power of Tenacious Citizenship},year={2022},note={Political Science and Politics 56(1): 158-163},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={democracy},doi={10.1017/s1049096522000816},}
Imagining a World without the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Tests whether the Universal Declaration of Human Rights accelerated adoption of a distinctive set of constitutional rights.
@article{elkins2022_09,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom},title={Imagining a World without the Universal Declaration of Human Rights},year={2022},note={World Politics 74(3): 327-366},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={human-rights},doi={10.1017/s0043887122000065},}
How to Think Conceptually without Really Trying: Notes on the Teaching of Concept Analysis
Zachary Elkins
In , 2022
In Teaching Graduate Political Methodology, edited by Mitchell Brown, Shane Nordyke, and Cameron Thies. Elgar
Offers practical strategies for teaching concept analysis and for helping graduate students move from intuitive categories to explicit, defensible concepts.
@incollection{elkins2022_35,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={How to Think Conceptually without Really Trying: Notes on the Teaching of Concept Analysis},year={2022},note={In Teaching Graduate Political Methodology, edited by Mitchell Brown, Shane Nordyke, and Cameron Thies. Elgar},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={data-methods},doi={10.4337/9781800885288.00019},}
Effects of a Hard Commitment to Alternation in Power
Examines the consequences of constitutional rules that strongly require alternation in office, including their effects on competition and political stability.
@incollection{elkins2022_36,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Effects of a Hard Commitment to Alternation in Power},year={2022},note={Texas International Law Journal 57(3): 381-395},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={executive-power, international-politics},}
The Strange Case of the Package Deal: Amendments and Replacements in Constitutional Reform
Analyzes constitutional reforms presented as bundled package deals and the democratic tradeoffs between voting on amendments together or separately.
@incollection{elkins2022_37,author={Elkins, Zachary and Hudson, Alex},title={The Strange Case of the Package Deal: Amendments and Replacements in Constitutional Reform},year={2022},note={in Richard Albert and Richard Stacey (eds.) The Limits and Legitimacy of Referendums. Oxford University Press},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design},}
2021
How Constitutional Drafters Use Comparative Evidence
Examines when and how constitution makers consult foreign examples, tracing the comparative evidence that enters constitutional drafting.
@article{elkins2021_10,author={Elkins, Zachary and Chernykh, Svitlana},title={How Constitutional Drafters Use Comparative Evidence},year={2021},note={Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis 24(6): 529-556},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={constitutional-design, diffusion},doi={10.1080/13876988.2021.1990737},}
Militant Democracy and the Pre-emptive Constitution: From Party Bans to Hardened Term Limits
Extends the idea of militant democracy beyond party bans to constitutional safeguards designed to prevent democratic backsliding before it occurs.
@article{elkins2021_11,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Militant Democracy and the Pre-emptive Constitution: From Party Bans to Hardened Term Limits},year={2021},note={Democratization 29(1): 174-198},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={constitutional-design, democracy, executive-power},doi={10.4324/9781003351757-10},}
Addresses four challenges to empirical research on written constitutions and offers guidelines for using constitutional texts comparatively.
@article{elkins2021_12,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom},title={What Can We Learn from Written Constitutions?},year={2021},note={Annual Review of Political Science 24: 321-343},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={constitutional-design},doi={10.1146/annurev-polisci-100720-102911},}
Reverse mortgages and aircraft parts: The arcane referendum and the limits of citizen competence
Uses unusually technical ballot measures to investigate the limits of voter competence in referendums and the conditions under which citizens can make informed choices.
@article{elkins2021_13,author={Cozza, Joseph and Elkins, Zachary and Hudson, Alex},title={Reverse mortgages and aircraft parts: The arcane referendum and the limits of citizen competence},year={2021},note={Electoral Studies 74},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={democracy},doi={10.1016/j.electstud.2021.102408},}
Explains how attempts to evade presidential term limits generate repeated cycles of constitutional noncompliance and further institutional weakening.
@article{elkins2021_14,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Term Limit Evasions and the Non-Compliance Cycle},year={2021},note={Constitutional Political Economy 32: 326--345},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={constitutional-design, executive-power},doi={10.1007/s10602-021-09332-y},}
The Qualitative Transparency Deliberations: Insights and Implications
Reports the conclusions of a broad disciplinary deliberation about transparency, evaluation, and ethical risks in qualitative political science.
@article{elkins2021_15,author={Jacobs, Alan and Büthe, Tim and Elkins, Zachary and others},title={The Qualitative Transparency Deliberations: Insights and Implications},year={2021},note={Perspectives on Politics},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={data-methods},doi={10.1017/s1537592720001164},}
Discusses transparency in qualitative content analysis, including how researchers can document interpretive choices while protecting sources and preserving analytic flexibility.
@article{elkins2021_16,author={Elkins, Zachary and Spitzer, Scott and Tallberg, Jonas},title={Content Analysis},year={2021},note={In Alan Jacobs and Tim Buthe (eds.). Transparency in qualitative research. [a symposium in Perspectives on Politics]},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={data-methods},}
The Mutualism of Human Rights Law and Interest Groups
Zachary Elkins
In , 2021
The University of Chicago Law Review Online. Included in the symposium, Measuring Impact in Constitutional Law. Print version of the article here
Explores the reciprocal relationship between human-rights law and organized interests, showing how each can reinforce the development and enforcement of the other.
@incollection{elkins2021_38,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={The Mutualism of Human Rights Law and Interest Groups},year={2021},note={The University of Chicago Law Review Online. Included in the symposium, Measuring Impact in Constitutional Law. Print version of the article here},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design, human-rights},}
Strong Citizens, Strong Presidents: The Architecture of the Inclusionary Turn in Latin America
Zachary Elkins
In , 2021
in Diana Kapiszewski, Steven Levitsky, and Deborah Yashar (eds.) The Inclusionary Turn. Cambridge University Press
Explains how Latin America’s inclusionary turn combined stronger citizenship rights with powerful presidencies and assesses the tensions built into that architecture.
@incollection{elkins2021_39,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Strong Citizens, Strong Presidents: The Architecture of the Inclusionary Turn in Latin America},year={2021},note={in Diana Kapiszewski, Steven Levitsky, and Deborah Yashar (eds.) The Inclusionary Turn. Cambridge University Press},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={democracy, executive-power, latin-america},}
How Historical Constitutional Data Informs Current Policy Debates
Shows how historical data on constitutional design and survival can clarify contemporary debates about institutional reform.
@incollection{elkins2021_40,author={Amick, Joe and Chapman, Terrence and Elkins, Zachary},title={How Historical Constitutional Data Informs Current Policy Debates},year={2021},note={The Political Economist},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design, data-methods},}
Investigates why states place balanced-budget rules in constitutions and assesses the institutional and political consequences of doing so.
@article{elkins2020_17,author={Amick, Joe and Chapman, Terrence and Elkins, Zachary},title={On Constitutionalizing a Balanced Budget},year={2020},note={Journal of Politics 82(3)},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={constitutional-design},doi={10.1086/707618},}
Concept Regulation in Political Science
Zachary Elkins
In , 2020
in Bertrand Badie, Dirk BergSchlosser, and Leonardo Morlino (eds.), The Sage Handbook of Political Science
Argues for more deliberate regulation of concepts in political science so that definitions, measures, and comparisons remain coherent across research communities.
@incollection{elkins2020_41,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Concept Regulation in Political Science},year={2020},note={in Bertrand Badie, Dirk BergSchlosser, and Leonardo Morlino (eds.), The Sage Handbook of Political Science},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={data-methods},doi={10.4135/9781529714333.n22},}
The Constitutional Referendum in Historical Perspective
Places constitutional referendums in historical and comparative perspective, examining when popular ratification strengthens or complicates constitution making.
@incollection{elkins2020_42,author={Elkins, Zachary and Hudson, Alex},title={The Constitutional Referendum in Historical Perspective},year={2020},note={in David Landau and Hanna Lerner (eds.) Comparative Constitution Making. Elgar},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design},doi={10.4337/9781785365263.00013},}
2019
On the Paradox of State Religion and Religious Freedom
Analyzes the tension between constitutionally established religion and religious tolerance using a typology and historical cross-national evidence.
@article{elkins2019_18,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={On the Paradox of State Religion and Religious Freedom},year={2019},note={Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={human-rights},doi={10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.846},}
Is the Sky Falling? Constitutional Crises in Historical Perspective
Zachary Elkins
In , 2019
in Mark Graber, Sandy Levinson, and Mark Tushnet (eds.) Constitutional Democracy in Crisis?. Oxford University Press
Uses historical comparison to assess claims of constitutional crisis and to distinguish ordinary institutional conflict from genuine systemic breakdown.
@incollection{elkins2019_43,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Is the Sky Falling? Constitutional Crises in Historical Perspective},year={2019},note={in Mark Graber, Sandy Levinson, and Mark Tushnet (eds.) Constitutional Democracy in Crisis?. Oxford University Press},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design, democracy},}
Constitutional Transition
Zachary Elkins
In , 2019
in Roger Congleton, Bernie Grofman, and Stefan Voigt (eds.) Oxford Handbook of Public Choice. Oxford University Press
Synthesizes conceptual, descriptive, explanatory, and normative questions surrounding constitutional replacement and transition.
@incollection{elkins2019_44,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Constitutional Transition},year={2019},note={in Roger Congleton, Bernie Grofman, and Stefan Voigt (eds.) Oxford Handbook of Public Choice. Oxford University Press},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design},doi={10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190469771.013.8},}
One Size Does not Fit All: The Provision and Interpretation of Presidential Term Limits
@incollection{elkins2019_45,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom},title={One Size Does not Fit All: The Provision and Interpretation of Presidential Term Limits},year={2019},note={In Alexander Baturo and Robert Elgie (eds.) The Politics of Presidential Term Limits. Oxford University Press},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={executive-power},}
@incollection{elkins2019_46,author={Baugher, Jessie and Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom},title={Bringing Constitutions into the Classroom},year={2019},note={Social Education 82(3):128--132, 154},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design},}
2017
Constitutional Revolution in the Andes?
Zachary Elkins
In , 2017
in Rosalind Dixon and Tom Ginsburg (eds.) Comparative Constitutional Law in Latin America. Elgar
@incollection{elkins2017_47,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Constitutional Revolution in the Andes?},year={2017},note={in Rosalind Dixon and Tom Ginsburg (eds.) Comparative Constitutional Law in Latin America. Elgar},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design, latin-america},doi={10.4337/9781785369216.00010},}
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights as Constitutional Model
in Keri E. Iyall Smith, Louis Edgar Esparza, Judith R. Blau (eds.) Human Rights Of, By, and For the People: How to Critique and Change the US Constitution
@incollection{elkins2017_48,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom and Melton, James},title={The Universal Declaration of Human Rights as Constitutional Model},year={2017},note={in Keri E. Iyall Smith, Louis Edgar Esparza, Judith R. Blau (eds.) Human Rights Of, By, and For the People: How to Critique and Change the US Constitution},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design, diffusion, human-rights},doi={10.4324/9781315470016-14},}
2016
On the influence of Magna Carta and other cultural relics
Studies the continuing influence of Magna Carta and other historically resonant texts on the language and design of modern constitutions.
@article{elkins2016_19,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom and Melton, James},title={On the influence of Magna Carta and other cultural relics},year={2016},note={International Review of Law and Economics 47: 3-9},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={international-politics},doi={10.1016/j.irle.2016.05.004},}
The Logic and Design of a low-commitment Constitution (or, how to stop worrying about the right to secede)
Zachary Elkins
In , 2016
in Sanford Levinson (ed.) Nullification and Secession in Contemporary Constitutional Thought
@incollection{elkins2016_49,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={The Logic and Design of a low-commitment Constitution (or, how to stop worrying about the right to secede)},year={2016},note={in Sanford Levinson (ed.) Nullification and Secession in Contemporary Constitutional Thought},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design},}
Comparative Approaches to Constitutional Gun Rights
Zachary Elkins
In , 2016
In Glenn Howard Utter (ed.) Guns and Contemporary Society: The Past, Present, and Future of Firearms and Firearm Policy
@incollection{elkins2016_50,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Comparative Approaches to Constitutional Gun Rights},year={2016},note={In Glenn Howard Utter (ed.) Guns and Contemporary Society: The Past, Present, and Future of Firearms and Firearm Policy},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design, human-rights},}
@incollection{elkins2016_51,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom and Melton, James},title={Time and Constitutional Efficacy},year={2016},note={in Tom Ginsburg and Aziz Huq (eds.) Assessing Constitutional Performance. pp. 233-268},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design},doi={10.1017/cbo9781316651018.009},}
"What do Constitution-Makers Say about Foreign Ideas? Lessons from Brazil
Zachary Elkins
In , 2016
in Carlos Aurélio Pimenta de Faria, Denilson Bandeira Coêlho, and Sidney Jard da Silva (eds.), Difusão de Políticas Públicas. Editora UFABC: Sao Bernardo do Campo, SP, Brasil
@incollection{elkins2016_52,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={"What do Constitution-Makers Say about Foreign Ideas? Lessons from Brazil},year={2016},note={in Carlos Aurélio Pimenta de Faria, Denilson Bandeira Coêlho, and Sidney Jard da Silva (eds.), Difusão de Políticas Públicas. Editora UFABC: Sao Bernardo do Campo, SP, Brasil},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design, diffusion, latin-america},}
2014-present
Rights Interactive: The Bill of Rights in Comparative Perspective
@misc{elkinsmedia_rights,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom and Melton, James},title={Rights Interactive: The Bill of Rights in Comparative Perspective},year={2014-present},note={Interactive infographics and visualizations developed for the National Constitution Center},category={Software and Multimedia},keywords={constitutional-design, human-rights},}
2014
Constitute: The world’s constitutions to read, search, and compare
Introduces Constitute, a platform that makes the world’s constitutions searchable and comparable through structured data and a public web interface.
@article{elkins2014_20,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom and Melton, James and Shaffer, Robert and Sequeda, Juan F. and Miranker, Daniel P.},title={Constitute: The world’s constitutions to read, search, and compare},year={2014},note={Journal of Web Semantics 27--28: 10-18},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={constitutional-design},doi={10.1016/j.websem.2014.07.006},}
Measuring Partial Membership in Categories: Alternative Tools
@incollection{elkins2014_53,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Measuring Partial Membership in Categories: Alternative Tools},year={2014},note={Qualitative and Multi-Method Research 12(1)},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={data-methods},}
@incollection{elkins2014_54,author={Chernykh, Svitlana and Elkins, Zachary and Melton, James and Ginsburg, Tom},title={Constitutions and the Management of Elections},year={2014},note={In Norris, P and Frank, RW and Martinez I Coma, F, (eds.) Advancing Electoral Integrity. Oxford: Oxford University Press},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design},}
@incollection{elkins2014_55,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom and Melton, James},title={The Content of Authoritarian Constitutions},year={2014},note={In Tom Ginsburg and Alberto Simpser (eds) Constitutions in Authoritarian Regimes. Cambridge University Press},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design},doi={10.1017/cbo9781107252523.010},}
2013-present
Constitute: The World’s Constitutions to Read, Search, and Compare
@misc{elkinsmedia_constitute,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom and Melton, James},title={Constitute: The World's Constitutions to Read, Search, and Compare},year={2013-present},note={Online constitutional research platform},category={Software and Multimedia},keywords={constitutional-design, data-methods},}
The Constitution Imagery Project
Zachary Elkins
2013-present
An archived collection of high-resolution constitutional artifacts and photographs
@misc{elkinsmedia_imagery,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={The Constitution Imagery Project},year={2013-present},note={An archived collection of high-resolution constitutional artifacts and photographs},category={Software and Multimedia},keywords={constitutional-design},}
Questions whether presidential, parliamentary, and semi-presidential systems behave as coherent institutional packages.
@article{elkins2013_21,author={Cheibub, Jose Antonio and Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom},title={Beyond Presidentialism and Parliamentarism},year={2013},note={British Journal of Political Science 44(3): 515-544},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={executive-power},doi={10.1017/s000712341300032x},}
The Weight of History and the Rebuilding of Brazilian Democracy
Zachary Elkins
2013
Lua Nova: Revista de Cultura e Política 88: 257-303
@article{elkins2013_22,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={The Weight of History and the Rebuilding of Brazilian Democracy},year={2013},note={Lua Nova: Revista de Cultura e Política 88: 257-303},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={democracy, constitutional-design, latin-america},doi={10.1590/s0102-64452013000100009},}
Comparability and the Analysis of National Constitutions
@incollection{elkins2013_56,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Comparability and the Analysis of National Constitutions},year={2013},note={APSA-CP Newsletter 23(1)},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design},}
@incollection{elkins2013_57,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={When Constitutions Shape National Identity},year={2013},note={LASA Forum},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design},}
Getting to Rights: Treaty Ratification, Constitutional Convergence, and Human Rights Practice
@incollection{elkins2013_58,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom and Simmons, Beth},title={Getting to Rights: Treaty Ratification, Constitutional Convergence, and Human Rights Practice},year={2013},note={Harvard International Law Journal},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design, human-rights, international-politics},}
2012
On the Interpretability of Law: Lessons from the Decoding of National Constitutions
Measures variation in constitutional interpretability and finds that textual characteristics matter more than era, language, or culture.
@article{elkins2012_23,author={Elkins, Zachary and Melton, James and Ginsburg, Tom and Leetaru, Kalev},title={On the Interpretability of Law: Lessons from the Decoding of National Constitutions},year={2012},note={British Journal of Political Science 43(2): 399-423},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={constitutional-design},doi={10.1017/s0007123412000361},}
Documents patterns of constitutional diffusion in nineteenth-century Europe and reassesses familiar accounts of democratization.
@article{elkins2012_24,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Diffusion and the Constitutionalization of Europe},year={2012},note={Comparative Political Studies 43: 1-31},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={constitutional-design, diffusion},doi={10.1177/0010414010370433},}
Comments on Law and Versteeg’s ‘The Declining Influence of the U.S. Constitution
@incollection{elkins2012_59,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom and Melton, James},title={Comments on Law and Versteeg’s ‘The Declining Influence of the U.S. Constitution},year={2012},note={NYU Law Review},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design},}
An epidemiological analysis of constitutional mortality,
@incollection{elkins2012_60,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom and Melton, James},title={An epidemiological analysis of constitutional mortality,},year={2012},note={in Keith Whittington (ed.) Law and politics : critical concepts in political science. V. 4, Comparative and international issues. Princeton},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design, data-methods, international-politics},}
Still the Land of Presidentialism? Executives and the Latin American Constitution,
@incollection{elkins2012_61,author={Cheibub, Jose Antonio and Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom},title={Still the Land of Presidentialism? Executives and the Latin American Constitution,},year={2012},note={in Detlef Nolte and Almut Schilling (eds.). New Constitutionalism in Latin America: Promises and Practices. London: Ashgate},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design, executive-power, latin-america},}
Reviews how institutional self-interest and public participation shape constitution-making processes and outcomes.
@incollection{elkins2012_62,author={Blount, Justin and Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom},title={Does the Process of Constitution-Making Matter?},year={2012},note={In Tom Ginsburg (ed.), Comparative Constitutional Design. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139105712.016},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design},doi={10.1146/annurev.lawsocsci.4.110707.172247},}
Do Executive Term Limits Cause Constitutional Crises?
@incollection{elkins2012_63,author={Ginsburg, Tom and Elkins, Zachary and Melton, James},title={Do Executive Term Limits Cause Constitutional Crises?},year={2012},note={In Tom Ginsburg (Ed.), Comparative Constitutional Design. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139105712.016},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design, executive-power},doi={10.1017/cbo9781139105712.016},}
2011
Latin American Presidentialism in Comparative and Historical Perspective
@incollection{elkins2011_64,author={Cheibub, Jose Antonio and Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom},title={Latin American Presidentialism in Comparative and Historical Perspective},year={2011},note={University of Texas Law Review 89(7)},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={executive-power, latin-america},}
@incollection{elkins2010_65,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom and Melton, James},title={On the Evasion of Executive Term Limits},year={2010},note={William and Mary Law Review 52},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={executive-power},}
Lessons from the Decoding and Coding of National Constitutions
@incollection{elkins2010_66,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom and Melton, James},title={Lessons from the Decoding and Coding of National Constitutions},year={2010},note={APSA-CD Newsletter 9(1)},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design},}
Explains why some national constitutions endure while others are replaced, emphasizing institutional design, inclusion, and adaptability.
@book{elkins2009_03,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom and Melton, James},title={The Endurance of National Constitutions},year={2009},note={New York: Cambridge University Press. (Preview Chapter One)},category={Books},keywords={constitutional-design},doi={10.2139/ssrn.2190476},}
Reviews how institutional self-interest and public participation shape constitution-making processes and outcomes.
@article{elkins2009_25,author={Ginsburg, Tom and Elkins, Zachary and Blount, Justin},title={Does the Process of Constitution-making Matter},year={2009},note={Annual Review of Law and Social Science 5: 201-223},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={constitutional-design},doi={10.1146/annurev.lawsocsci.4.110707.172247},}
@incollection{elkins2009_67,author={Ginsburg, Tom and Elkins, Zachary},title={Ancillary Powers of Constitutional Courts},year={2009},note={University of Texas Law Review 87: 1430-61},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design},}
The Citizen as Founder: Public Participation in Constitutional Approval
Temple Law Review 81(2): 361-382 [Published in Spanish in expanded form as,"Ciudadano Como Fundador: la Participacion Publica en el diseno constitutional," in Revista Latinoamericana de Politica Comparada 1: 119-153]
@incollection{elkins2009_68,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom and Blount, Justin},title={The Citizen as Founder: Public Participation in Constitutional Approval},year={2009},note={Temple Law Review 81(2): 361-382 [Published in Spanish in expanded form as,"Ciudadano Como Fundador: la Participacion Publica en el diseno constitutional," in Revista Latinoamericana de Politica Comparada 1: 119-153]},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design, democracy},}
A Hibridização De Formas Constitucionais: A Constituição Brasileira De 1988 Em Uma Perspectiva Histórica
@incollection{elkins2009_69,author={Cheibub, Jose Antonio and Elkins, Zachary},title={A Hibridização De Formas Constitucionais: A Constituição Brasileira De 1988 Em Uma Perspectiva Histórica},year={2009},note={In O Legislativo Brasileiro em Perspectiva Comparada. Lucio Rennó and Magna Inácio, eds. Editora Editora UFMG. Pp. 55-77},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design, executive-power, latin-america},}
Constitutional Networks
Zachary Elkins
In , 2009
In Miles Kahler (ed.), Networked Politics: Agency, Power, and Governance. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Pp. 43-63
@incollection{elkins2009_70,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Constitutional Networks},year={2009},note={In Miles Kahler (ed.), Networked Politics: Agency, Power, and Governance. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Pp. 43-63},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design},doi={10.7591/9780801458880-005},}
2008
Military Occupations and their Constitutional Residue
Asks when military occupations produce constitutional replacement, institutional transplantation, and lasting constitutional effects.
@incollection{elkins2008_71,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom and Melton, James},title={Military Occupations and their Constitutional Residue},year={2008},note={APSA-CP Newsletter 19(2): 7-10},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design},doi={10.2139/ssrn.2487248},}
Commitment and Diffusion: How and Why National Constitutions Incorporate International Law
@incollection{elkins2008_72,author={Ginsburg, Tom and Chernykh, Svitlana and Elkins, Zachary},title={Commitment and Diffusion: How and Why National Constitutions Incorporate International Law},year={2008},note={Illinois Law Review 101: 201-237},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design, diffusion, international-politics},}
Baghdad, Tokyo, Kabul…Constitution Making in Occupied States
@incollection{elkins2008_73,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom and Melton, James},title={Baghdad, Tokyo, Kabul…Constitution Making in Occupied States},year={2008},note={William and Mary Law Review 49(4): 1139-1178},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={constitutional-design},}
Is Democracy Contagious?
Zachary Elkins
In , 2008
In Peter Nardulli (ed.) International Perspectives on Contemporary Democracy. University of Illinois Press. Pp. 42-62
@incollection{elkins2008_74,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Is Democracy Contagious?},year={2008},note={In Peter Nardulli (ed.) International Perspectives on Contemporary Democracy. University of Illinois Press. Pp. 42-62},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={democracy, international-politics},}
2007
Can Institutions Build Unity in Multiethnic States." American Political Science Review 101: 693-708.[Runner-up for the award of best article of 2007 awarded by the Comparative Democratization Section of APSA in 2008.]
Tests whether political institutions can strengthen a shared national identity across ethnic divisions and identifies the institutional arrangements most associated with unity.
@article{elkins2007_26,author={Elkins, Zachary and Sides, John},title={Can Institutions Build Unity in Multiethnic States." American Political Science Review 101: 693-708.[Runner-up for the award of best article of 2007 awarded by the Comparative Democratization Section of APSA in 2008.]},year={2007},note={},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={democracy},}
@misc{elkinsmedia_constitutionmaking,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom and Hirschl, Ran},title={constitutionmaking.org},year={2006-2013},note={Resources for constitutional drafters; subsequently divided between Constitute and I-CONnect},category={Software and Multimedia},keywords={constitutional-design},}
2006
Competing for Capital: The Diffusion of Bilateral Investment Treaties, 1959-2000
" International Organization 60(4): 811-846. [Reprinted in: (1)Frank Dobbin, Beth Simmons, and Geoff Garrett (eds.) International Diffusion of Political and Economic Liberalization Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 220-260; (2) Michael Waibel (ed.) The Backlash against Investment Arbitration, pp. 369-407; and (3)llinois Law Review 2008: 265-304, with data and analysis updated to 2006 along with an expanded discussion.]
Shows that competition for foreign investment helped drive the international diffusion of bilateral investment treaties.
@article{elkins2006_27,author={Elkins, Zachary and Simmons, Beth and Guzman, Andrew},title={Competing for Capital: The Diffusion of Bilateral Investment Treaties, 1959-2000},year={2006},note={" International Organization 60(4): 811-846. [Reprinted in: (1)Frank Dobbin, Beth Simmons, and Geoff Garrett (eds.) International Diffusion of Political and Economic Liberalization Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 220-260; (2) Michael Waibel (ed.) The Backlash against Investment Arbitration, pp. 369-407; and (3)llinois Law Review 2008: 265-304, with data and analysis updated to 2006 along with an expanded discussion.]},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={diffusion, data-methods, international-politics},doi={10.2139/ssrn.578961},}
@misc{elkinsmedia_ccp,author={Elkins, Zachary and Ginsburg, Tom and Melton, James},title={The Comparative Constitutions Project},year={2005-present},note={Constitutional data, reports, and infographics},category={Software and Multimedia},keywords={constitutional-design, data-methods},}
2005
On Waves, Clusters, and Diffusion: A Conceptual Framework
Defines diffusion as uncoordinated interdependence and distinguishes learning from adaptation as mechanisms of policy spread.
@article{elkins2005_28,author={Elkins, Zachary and Simmons, Beth},title={On Waves, Clusters, and Diffusion: A Conceptual Framework},year={2005},note={Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 598: 33-51},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={diffusion, data-methods},doi={10.1177/0002716204272516},}
2004
The Globalization of Liberalization: Policy Diffusion in the International Political Economy
Explains the international diffusion of economic liberalization by showing how competition, learning, and shared policy networks shape national choices.
@article{elkins2004_29,author={Simmons, Beth and Elkins, Zachary},title={The Globalization of Liberalization: Policy Diffusion in the International Political Economy},year={2004},note={" American Political Science Review 98: 171-190},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={diffusion, international-politics},doi={10.4324/9781315254166-7},}
2003
Are Patriots Bigots? An Inquiry into the Vices of In-group Pride
Examines when attachment to one’s country encourages solidarity and when national pride shades into hostility toward outsiders.
@article{elkins2003_30,author={de Figueiredo, Rui and Elkins, Zachary},title={Are Patriots Bigots? An Inquiry into the Vices of In-group Pride},year={2003},note={American Journal of Political Science 47: 171-188},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={democracy, human-rights},doi={10.2307/3186100},}
Globalization and Policy Diffusion: Explaining Three Decades of Liberalization." In Miles Kahler and David A
Lake (eds.) Globalizing Authority: Economic Integration and the Changing Structure of Governance. Princeton, NJ: University of Princeton Press. Pp. 275-304
@incollection{elkins2003_75,author={Elkins, Zachary and Simmons, Beth},title={Globalization and Policy Diffusion: Explaining Three Decades of Liberalization." In Miles Kahler and David A},year={2003},note={Lake (eds.) Globalizing Authority: Economic Integration and the Changing Structure of Governance. Princeton, NJ: University of Princeton Press. Pp. 275-304},category={Chapters and Other Articles},keywords={diffusion, international-politics},}
2000
Gradations of Democracy? Empirical Tests of Alternative Conceptualizations
Compares graded and dichotomous measures of democracy and evaluates how alternative conceptualizations perform in empirical analysis.
@article{elkins2000_31,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Gradations of Democracy? Empirical Tests of Alternative Conceptualizations},year={2000},note={American Journal of Political Science 44: 293-300},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={democracy, data-methods},doi={10.2307/2669311},}
Quem Iria Votar? Conheçendo as Consequências do Voto Obrigatόrio no Brasil
Zachary Elkins
2000
Opinão Pública 6 (1): 111-137. [English title: "Who Would Vote? Understanding the Consequences of Mandatory Voting in Brazil"]
Examines how eliminating compulsory voting would affect the demographic and political equality of electoral participation in Brazil.
@article{elkins2000_32,author={Elkins, Zachary},title={Quem Iria Votar? Conheçendo as Consequências do Voto Obrigatόrio no Brasil},year={2000},note={Opinão Pública 6 (1): 111-137. [English title: "Who Would Vote? Understanding the Consequences of Mandatory Voting in Brazil"]},category={Peer-Reviewed Articles},keywords={democracy, latin-america},doi={10.1590/s0104-62762000000100005},}