This 2002 book analyses the formal constitutional changes that have taken place in the Asia-Pacific region.

Graham Hassall is widely published in Pacific Studies and is an expert on the states of Micronesia in particular. He was Research Fellow and Director of the Asia-Pacific program of teaching and research in the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies at the University of Melbourne Law School, and is currently the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies at Landegg International University, Switzerland.

Acknowledgements; Map: the Asia-Pacific region; Introduction; Part I. Modernity and Nation-States at the Dawn of the Global Era: 1. Traditional states and colonisation; 2. The modern constitution; 3. Writing the constitution; Part II. The Constitution of Modernity: 4. The legislature; 5. Representation; 6. Head of state; 7. Constitutional revision; Part III. Democracy and the Rule of Law: 8. Courts and the judiciary; 9. The suspension of constitutional power; 10. Devolution; Conclusion: postmodernity and constitutionalism; Appendix: chronology of constitutional events in the Asia Pacific; Bibliography; Index.