In almost all countries with diverse populations, we have seen not the "domestic tranquility" spoken of in the preamble of the Constitution of the United States, but domestic hostility between fellow citizens--blacks and whites in the United States, Dutch speakers and French speakers in Belgium, Serbs and Albanians in Yugoslavia, Castilian speakers and Catalan speakers in Spain, Malays and Chinese in Malaysia, Sikhs, Muslims, and Hindus in India, and many others.

The ways nations have sought to forge national unity in the face of such conflicts form the subject of this volume. Eight very different constitutions are presented, analyzed, and dicussed. These constitutions come from nations with different histories and political systems, but they have in common a significant diversity of races, religions, languages, or nationalities.

Each chapter in this book contains a major paper on the constitutional experience of a country, a shorter commentary on that paper by a fellow countryman writing from a different perspective, and edited portions of the transcript of a discussion among constitutional experts from twenty countries.

Robert A. Goldwin is a resident scholar of constitutional studies at AEI.