This book emerged from the author’s engagement (the nature of which is reflected in my publications listed in the Bibliography) with constitutional comparison. The explosive surge of comparative activity in the context of public (especially constitutional) law must no doubt be ascribed, at least partially, to the phenomenon often hazily referred to as ‘globalization’. Markers of globalization such as the mobility of humanity across borders, hitherto unprecedented in history, have perceptible, though sometimes opaque, consequences for our understanding of the contemporary state, its powers, responsibilities and foundations. One of these consequences is the increasing prevalence of religious pluralism in the populations of most states of the 21st Century. Another indicator of globalization is the deepening penetration of constitutional language emerging from the history of the state in the ‘Western’ world into the global vernacular. A prominent example of this is the notion of ‘constitutionalism’, which is widely used as a cipher for a desirable state of affairs in any country, but whose meaning is vague, at least around its edges.