The Invisible Constitution in Comparative Perspective

The Invisible Constitution was translated into Chinese in 2010. In the spe-

cial foreword to Chinese readers, Tribe suggests that the core idea concerning 

the ‘invisible constitution’ is applicable to any modern written constitution 

by denying the constitutional exceptionalism of America.

16

 He insists that the 

whole meaning of a written constitution cannot be captured by merely reading 

its text. Essentially, the constitution consists of a set of ideas that are located 

in their own historical context. Furthermore, these ideas are underpinned by 

more fundamental principles.

17

 The written constitution remains an incom-

plete expression of these historical ideas and principles; the supposed invisible 

part of it cannot be understood through its textual expressions, but still contains 

its fundamental sense. Tribe’s specific introduction to Chinese readers dis-

plays the flexibility of the ‘invisible constitution’ from a scholarly interpretative  

11 

Eric J. Segall, ‘Lost in Space: Laurence Tribe’s Invisible Constitution’ (2009) 103 Northwestern 

University Law Review Colloquy 434, 434.

12 

Ibid.

, 437.

13 

Ibid.

, 440.

14 

Martin Loughlin, ‘Constitutional Imagination’ (2015) 78 Modern Law Review 1, 20.

15 

Segall, Supra note 11, 339.

16 

Laurence H. Tribe, The Invisible Constitution (Chinese version), Tian Lei trans. (Beijing: Law 

Press, 2011) X [【美】劳伦斯·却伯  ：《看不见的宪法》，田雷译，北京  ：法律出版

社，第 

3 页].

17 

Ibid.

, 4.

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406 

Han Zhai

methodology for a broader research approach, underpinned by the idea that 

the substantive rules really matter.

18

 In other words, the determinative factor 

that bonds textualism in constitutional interpretation is the substance of the 

constitution.

19

14.2.2.  Trends in Researching the ‘Invisible Constitution’ in China

By equating the ‘invisible’ aspects of the 1982 Constitution with the unwritten 

constitution, Chinese constitutional scholarship followed the Chinese transla-

tion of Tribe’s The Invisible Constitution in 2010. In the meantime, there have 

been two research currents in China’s constitutional law research: one that 

debates the content and implications of the ‘unwritten constitution’ beyond 

the text of the 1982 Constitution, and one that offers preliminary theories 

about the ongoing constitutional practice along the central-local relation-

ship. Sharing the context of the emergence of Chinese political constitutional 

scholarship, both of these research threads can contribute essential methodo-

logical reflections for our analysis into China’s reforming constitution.

The debate concerning the unwritten constitution has been triggered by 

Jiang Shigong’s research into the unwritten constitution in China as part of 

an effort to justify the constitutional legitimacy of the Communist Party of 

China (CPC).

20

 While reviewing similar discussions among American consti-

tutional scholars, Jiang noticed Tribe’s work on the ‘invisible constitution’ and 

became intellectually interested in the departure of the written constitution 

from its practice. Jiang believes that there have been aspects of an ‘invisible’ 

constitution underpinning the political operation of the PRC for over six dec-

ades. Through a realistic perspective and with a remarkable break from mere 

textual analysis, Jiang has analysed four different aspects of China’s unwritten 

constitution: the party’s constitution, constitutional conventions, constitu-

tional doctrines and constitutional statutes.

21

 Then, in a 2010 paper, Jiang sum-

marised the four resources of China’s unwritten constitution as: (1) the party’s 

constitution as the substantive constitution in China; (2) the ‘trinity’ system of 

rule combining the party, the National People’s Congress (NPC) and Chinese 

people together to realise the leadership of the party; (3) local initiatives under 

18 

Roosevelt III, Supra note 10.

19 

Cass R.  Sunstein,  The Impartial Constitution (Cambridge, MA:  Harvard University Press, 

1993) 123.

20 

This study has been published in both Chinese (2009) and in English with a modified version 

in correspondence to the ‘historical-empirical’ approach advocated by Professor Philip C. C. 

Huang (2010).

21 

See Jiang Shigong, ‘Written and Unwritten Constitutions’ (2010) 36 Modern China 12.

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