ABSTRACT. The literature on constitution-making is substantial but, until recently, gender as an imperative of design has received little attention. There are many monographs, symposia or collections on constitutional design where gender as a referent is simply missing, and where women, if acknowledged at all, are listed only as a sub-set in a taxonomy of design challenges. In the large body of theoretical writings on constitutional identity, legitimacy, and constituent power ‒ all normatively implicated in constitutional design ‒ gender is almost entirely overlooked. The problem is not a lack of attention to difference in constitutional design. Indeed, a very significant proportion of the relevant literature concerns principles for redressing forms of power asymmetry or accommodating social cleavages. This paper examines constitutional design scholarship from the perspective of gender, identifies reasons for the underrecognition of gender, explores the history of gender interventions in constitution making, and considers a framework though which feminist theory can approach the subject. pp. 89–115

Keywords: constitutional design, constitution-making, gender, feminist theory