In the context of a protest movement that started in Tunisia in December 2010 and that spread throughout North Africa and West Asia, close to 200,000 Moroccans took to the streets in 53 cities to demand rapid change in their country.

In an effort to satisfy demonstrators and to avoid the type of revolutionary change that has spread across other countries in the region, the Kingdom of Morocco drafted and approved a new constitution in July 2011. Although some commentators have noted its progressive protection of individual rights, others have complained that the new constitution reinforces a rigid governance framework that protects entrenched interests at the expense of executive transparency and accountability.

This publication is the second in a series that International IDEA is publishing on constitutional developments in West Asia and North Africa since 2011. The authors of this study provide an overview of the manner in which Morocco’s new constitution was drafted and of its substantive contents. They also set out a number of recommendations that could be considered in any future reform effort.