Constitutionalism Unbound : Creating triangulation for International Relations

International relations in the twenty-first century contain a paradox. On the one hand, constitutionalism is growing throughout the world. For instance, the European Union, the World Trade Organization, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, and the European Court of Human Rights all frequently refer to constitutional norms and procedures. On the other hand, international organizations' legitimacy and how international law is interpreted are frequently in dispute. Cases in point include the International Court of Justice's rulings in The Hague and decisions made by the United Nations Security Council regarding the use of smart sanctions and military interventions.

In brief, the application of common rules, contracts, and resolutions is hotly contested as the global area is increasingly occupied by "constitutionalized" international institutions and a wide range of players with varying degrees of power and legitimacy. This is true of processes that emerge and solidify inside the framework of both global and regional organizations rather than within a state-centered framework. Discursive references to fundamental norms like basic and human rights, sovereignty, democracy, and the rule of law, organizational principles like accountability, subsidiarity, or shared yet different responsibility, or with the help of standardized processes like emission standards and election procedures can all be used to create a constitutional reference.

Thus, "constitutionalism unbound" (in the sense of unchecked or unregulated constitutionalism) serves as the project's subtitle. This situation presents both opportunities and political uncertainty. The project incorporates a number of subprojects to tackle specific issues in order to investigate these prospects. In order to understand contestation, it is important to first examine concrete situations where it can be seen that constitutional norms are being used as a primary frame of reference. Secondly, it seeks to reconstruct and discuss the constitutionalization of international organizations in the context of those organizations and with reference to normative standards.

A transition from globalized to constitutionalized international relations is overall seen in the project. 

This shift raises the issue of corresponding quantitative and qualitative transformation processes in global space, which must be reconstructed normatively with references to fundamental norms, organizational principles, and standard operating procedures, as well as empirically, for example, by examining constitutionalization with reference to environmental conditions, success criteria, and sustainability. An interdisciplinary project group studies and investigates the subject, combining issues in political science, sociology, and international law. The basis for the collaboration is theoretical triangulation, a cutting-edge technique that reflectively blends the heuristic notions of global constitutionalism, world statehood, and global government.