In honor of Constitution Day on Sept.16, a faculty panel of University of Massachusetts political science professors met yesterday to discuss how constitutions affect democracy as well as what it means to be in a democracy around the world.

According to Professor Frederic Schaffer, democracy and freedom can have different meanings in other languages. He said people in revolutions around the world in countries like Egypt or Tunisia may have a different meaning for the word democracy in their language and culture.

Amel Ahmed, associate professor of Political Science, said, “The real irony of democracies is that they are established by non-democrats.”

Ahmed recently returned from Egypt and offered her insight into the new Egyptian government that is currently being formed.  According to Ahmed, the belief that  revolution and democracy always coincide is a powerful fiction. She claimed that a formal constitution is the beginning of a representative government and that the United States Constitution was not valid until the 1830s.

“The 1830s show that democracy is not born from scratch,” said Ahmed. “It fought a long battle for inclusion.”

In the new Egyptian government, the old authoritarian regime will play a major role. In the first election in November, a parliamentary body will be elected that is similar to the former, according to Ahmed.  Although she does not believe tampering will be involved in the elections, she believes the elites of the previous regime are equipped with the organization and the practical experience necessary to win elections.

The newcomers consist of 35 parties challenged by lack of organization and the practical experience, according to Ahmed. She said these new parties are considered more liberal and lack the unity of the old regime and the Muslim Brotherhood. Once they become organized they will consolidate with one another and find their constituents and form coalitions, she said.

To help others understand the political landscape of Egypt, Ahmed has recently launched a website, EgyptElections.org, which gives candidates information about populations and the constituents of districts. Many new candidates did not know their constituencies well, Ahmed says, so the website will give them the resources needed to help educate their voters.

“These are the first elections,” said Ahmed, “they will not be the last elections.”

While Ahmed thinks democracy was established in the United States in the 1830s, Political Science professor, Angelica Bernal, an expert on popular constitutionalism in Latin America, claims democracy was laid out in the groundwork of the United States Constitution in its infancy.

Bernal said the Constitution was essential for the founding fathers because it established rules and called for limited government. In Latin America, constitutions are pertinent in the making of dictatorships and authoritarian regimes, she said.

Constitutions are seen as a mechanism that signal the aspirations of people and as a way of facilitating political and social change, said Bernal. Populous radical leaders like Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Evo Morales of Bolivia have used the revising of their constitutions as a way of promoting their regimes.

Presidents are assuming a great protagonist role in the creation of constitutions, said Bernal. By some of their citizens, they are seen as leaders of the masses, but by critics, they are seen using their constitutions as tools for usurpation, said Bernal. Presidents in Latin American countries are now holding assemblies, to have the people see themselves as active participants in the government, she said. They are including groups that were previously ignored such as indigenous populations. These constituent assemblies are organized to write a new constitution, she added.

According to Bernal, with countries like Venezuela, having over 20 constitutions drafted, a great expansion of power and the erosion of checks and balances have been awarded to leaders.

The panel was moderated by John Brigham, professor of Political Science and was sponsored by The University of Massachusetts’ Department of Political Science and College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Brianna Corcoran can be reached at [email protected].