I guess it is time for the first reading assignment for the newly elected Constitutional Assembly.  A couple of interesting (potentially) reads I stumbled upon today.

First, Roger Congleton just published Perfecting Parliament: Constitutional Reform, Liberalism, and the Rise of Western Democracy.  While it appears more focused on the transition to democracy than constitutional reform in established democracies it should be an interesting read, especially with respect to why and how the political elite saw benefits in implementing certain reforms.

Second, Roger Myerson, the 2007 Nobel Prize winner in Economics, has been writing quite a bit about constitutions recently (not to mention having published several important papers on electoral systems).  The focus of this work appears to be mostly on Pakistan and Iraq – who probably face a considerable more difficult task than Iceland – but his insights into how constitutions, and political institutions, work are something the fathers- and mothers (-to-be) of the constitution should find interesting – and quite accessible: Constitutional Structures for a Strong Democracy.  There are also some opinion pieces on his homepage, which I haven’t taken a look at yet.