Re: Constitutions: Connecting Citizens with the Rules of the Game

World Citizen Comics

by Beka Feathers, Kasia Babis (Illustrator)

Marcus is stumped by a summer assignment: to write an essay on what it means to be a citizen. He’s surprised to hear from people in his community that constitutions play an important role when it comes to citizenship—they can even affect whether you feel like you belong in your country or not. From a Kosovo Albanian neighbor to a Rwandan exchange student, and even in his own family history, Marcus discovers stories of how constitutions—including the U.S. Constitution—shape the political landscape and our daily lives.

From Beka Feathers, an expert in post-conflict institution building, and Kasia Babis, an accomplished political cartoonist, comes a graphic novel that gives context to the modern issues that arise from constitutions. With historical examples from all over the world, Re: Constitutions examines how this essential document defines a nation’s identity and the rights of its citizens.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Politics, Nonfiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Contemporary, Comics

256 pages, Hardcover

First published June 15, 2021

About the author

Beka Feathers is a legal adviser on political development in conflict-affected states. She has worked with clients and partners in more than a dozen countries to draft constitutions, design transitional governments, facilitate peace processes, and advocate for improved access to justice. She writes non-fiction comics to bring more people into the conversation about what governments can and should do for their citizens.

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice overview of citizenship and how constitutions work. I thought I would get bored since it does the familiar educational trope of following a teenager around as he talks to people to gather information and opinions for a school paper he needs to write. But he talks to a lot of interesting people in his neighborhood, giving us glimpses of life in Kosovo, Argentina, Kenya and Rwanda in addition to the U.S.

I worry it may have too many talking heads for its target teen audience, but I'm a history nerd, so it worked for me.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re:Constitutions is an entirely functional introduction to the purpose and use of constitutions, American or otherwise. The framing story features a teenager writing an essay, so naturally he has to go interview his extremely diverse community about how constitutions have affected their lives. Such smart, cogent neighbors he has! Surely every community could so effortlessly expound on constitutional law and the division of government.

Aside from the deeply unrealistic framing story, Re:Constitutions is a fine, charming read that'll remind you why the rule of law is a fine thing to have. Not the most exciting entry in the World Citizen Comics series, but not a total drag either. I would have appreciated more fun facts, though, particularly related to how constitutions differ from country to country.

[Y.Poston]

Beautifully done. I recommend this book to all citizens, no matter their age.
Constitution info made digestible. Way more thumbs up than I possess!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Alex Andrasik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty nice. Would make a great classroom resource or an overview for a young person first delving into these topics. The framing conceit, of a young man tasked to write a paper about the Constitution and getting advice and perspectives from the diverse people in his family and community, is a good one if a little thinly-drawn; there sure are a lot of people in Chathamville ready to declaim about systems of government at a moment's notice! But that's quite forgivable.

There's a lot of great information presented here, even if it's (mostly) delivered with a sort of gee-whiz faith in institutions. I really appreciate the way it explores constitutions from around the world, in at least small bits and pieces from countries like Rwanda, India, Kosovo, Brazil, South Africa, and France. It does a great job of connecting how specific provisions of some of these constitutions had real, tangible impacts on people's lives through facets of their existence like their language, education, or economic opportunity.

My favorite chapter is #11, "What If We Get It Wrong?" Not only does it feature a librarian showcasing her mad research skills, but it dispenses most directly with that "gee whiz" attitude and addresses the fact that governments are never perfect and need a way to be fixed. I also really like the final section, "Aaliyah's Guide to Drafting Your Own Constitution," which I could see adapting as the basis of an interactive library program at some point.

Love the art too! Clean, clear, cartoony without sacrificing human expressiveness.

[Heather Blackerby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a graphic novel that I picked up on a recent trip to Williamsburg, Va. It follows a boy who spent the summer volunteering at a welcome center and is tasked with writing a paper on what it means to be a citizen. It follows him having casual conversations with people throughout the community about their experiences, including people from other countries. One of my favorite aspects about the book is that it highlights bits of history from different parts of the world and how their constitutions affected things. I think this is a great book for having intentional and thoughtful conversations with kids about WHY it matters to have constitutions and how they work to serve the people of a nation. It also reminds citizens of the opportunities a constitution gives them. The end of the book does offer some more educational content about how to create your own constitution and asks great questions for kids to consider. A last note: this book is written by Beka Feathers- a legal advisor who has assisted in drafting constitutions in various countries.

[Amanda [Novel Addiction] · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite of the World Citizen comics series, but definitely still a valuable one to read.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Out of all the World Citizen Comics I have read to date (Unrig: How to Fix Our Broken Democracy, Fault Lines in the Constitution: The Graphic Novel), this is the weakest. But I don't think that's necessarily a fault of the book itself, but rather its intended audience. Whereas Unrig and Fault Lines dove headfirst into the details of our United States political systems, Constitutions steps back and takes a bird's eye view of the general concept of a constitution. That is still a very valuable bit of education for many people.

I did greatly appreciate the global view of constitutions. Rather than focus solely on the United States, there are little details about several other countries, such as India, Kosovo, and Rwanda. I think it is easy for those of us in the US to forget that other countries also have constitutions. This book did a good job of highlighting how each country's constitution is different, from general purpose to specific implementation.

Interestingly, the book's framing device is a young man writing a paper about what it means to be a citizen. Constitutions are brought is the document that defines what a citizen actually is within each country. This question of being a citizen gets linked to how each branch of government effects an individual's life. Some things, like an official national language, are things I had never thought would be a constitution, but again that's my United States bias. Then again, the US is a somewhat unique case given our citizenship is comprised of so many different types of people, rather than some older countries having longer histories of a more limited set of people.

The framing device did take up a lot of space in this volume of World Citizen Comics, though. There were way too many pages of wordless panels just showing people moving from one location to another, or just having idle conversation. While I did feel Unrig and Fault Lines were overly dense at times, Constitutions goes the opposite. It's a very light read, with large panels and sparse dialogue balloons. It's clearly meant to appeal more to a mass audience than the more academic entries in the WCC series. And that's fine, that appeal is needed to get people interested in the details of political systems.

While this might be a small stumble in the academic quality of the World Citizen Comics series, Re: Constitutions still serves its purpose well and provides a good broad overview of how constitutions define citizenship.

[Natalie Cannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

World Citizen Comics were left unattended on the library shelf long enough that I finally caved and borrowed one. I wanted to see what the fuss was about. Ultimately, I’m surprised RE: Constitutions is shelved with the Adult nonfiction graphic novels. While I had a pleasant experience, the audience is clearly the YouthTM.

Fresh from a summer helping would-be American citizens pass their citizenship tests at the local Welcome Center, high schooler Marcus needs to write a paper about the experience for class credit. The paper’s topic is innocuous enough—what does it mean to be a citizen? I wrote a dozen papers like it in high school (thanks, Government class). However, those would have been way better papers if I’d asked my community for help like Marcus did. When Marcus confesses having difficulty writing at a neighborhood picnic, everyone pitches in ideas. Each neighbor has a unique experience and meaning of citizenship. Collectively, we got this.

RE: Constitutions was a breath of fresh hair to be honest. While I studied the USA Constitution in school, the rhetoric had a certain, um, angle (*cough* American Exceptionalism *cough* *cough*). RE: Constitutions certainly centers the USA Constitution, given the setting, but the Constitution is placed in context. It’s treated as a phenomenon, not this evidence that America isn’t terrible. Feathers eloquently makes her points, the art is charming, and I was pretty engaged in what would have been a boring treatise in lesser hands. The salient bits are summed up in the back matter for easy reference. This book seems like a great resource for high schoolers. It provided a balm for me in a tumultuous week.

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love World Citizen Comics! This series is essential for everyone affected by the government, which is everyone! In this story, facts about constitutions and their roles throughout the world are explored through the fictional narrative of Marcus, a student assigned to write an essay about what it means to be a citizen. Marcus struggles to contextualize his feelings about citizenship and how the American Constitution affects citizens. Through connecting with his diverse community, Marcus explore what the power people place in constitutions and their impact.

One element of this graphic novel that surprised me was the interlaced stories of constitutions from other governments. I didn't know that would be a focus, and it really added to the story. I was especially moved by the story of the Rwandan constitution.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

An overview of the concept of a constitution: what is it, how does it affect our every day life, and how have different countries dealt with constitutions.

I found it both basic and informative. The story gimmick kept things a bit lighter than they might have otherwise been, and I really appreciated the way the author brought a global perspective to this.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son's first chapter book, on a most important subject. Does a great job laying out how foundational documents impact history, law, and society, in an accessible style. My son has asked for it at bed time, ever since we got it.

[Corrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could have been a really well done book, and I think for readers of graphic novels it will really hit home. I just felt like the pictures took me out of the information and story they were telling.

[Heather Walter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another read for our "summer of civics." It was fascinating to learn how constitutions have been created and used throughout the world. It also helped shine a lot on how our constitution impacts our daily lives.

[Andréa]

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

[TheNextGenLibrarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great nonfiction explanation about democracy and politics in general that comes from an unbiased place. These are books that belong in libraries.

[Jen Stahlnecker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great way to teach about the constitution. Well written in plain words for everyone to grasp the concept.

[George Kasnic · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging book on Constitutions and their role in governance. Graphic novel supported by a story providing relevance for young adults. Going into my classroom library.