Three periods of constitutionalism can be identified: long-nineteenth-century reformist constitutionalism; independence-consolidating constitutionalism; and post-1990s liberalizing constitutionalism. All three periods correspond to dynamics that unfolded all over the world, but they also manifest specific characteristics that cannot be explained without paying close attention to events in, and the peculiarities of, Moroccan political, social, and economic life. Moroccan constitutionalism can thus be properly described in terms of a combination of global determinism and local contingencies. To make such a description, we mainly concentrate on the ways in which the drafters identify the different powers, their separation, and their balance. Only in this framework of constitutional checks and balances can we eventually address the place of Islam in these different texts. Indeed, it is our contention that the issue of Islam in constitutions cannot be dissociated from the general concept and organization of the state, from close attention to the state’s constitutive powers and their position in relation to each other or from the degree of religious legitimacy of the head of state.

This chapter examines the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark First Amendment religious liberty cases to show how the judiciary has come to terms with the disputes that arise over religious liberty. The religion clauses are often seen as upholding the concept of individual rights and defending religious liberty against religious majoritarianism. However, the U.S. Supreme Court’s interpretation of the religion clauses often belies this perception. This chapter demonstrates that the religion clauses largely epitomize majoritarianism. That is, rather than protecting religious minorities, the scope and protection of the religion clauses reflect both the trajectory of the Supreme Court’s broader constitutional rights jurisprudence, as well as the wider political landscape, both as it relates to judicial politics as well as contemporary social discourse.