Grasping the constitutional order through instruments: ECOWAS’s democracy policy

This article offers an analysis of the crisis of the constitutional order set in motion by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The theoretical and conceptual approach is inspired by the sociology of public action and examines the constitutional order through the lens of public action instruments. By focusing on the choice of instruments and their effects, the article reveals on the one hand, a politicized constitutional order and on the other, a reconfigured constitutional order.