Who Outlasts Whom
A constitution and the people governing under it are in a quiet contest. Sometimes the document wins and outlives dozens of them. Sometimes one person outlives several documents. This page counts both, for 177 countries, using nothing but dates.
Constitutions measured
177
every country with a dated record
Most executives
56
Argentina since 1853
Most constitutions outlasted
8
Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX), Thailand
Never changed hands
8
constitutions with no transition yet
A low number is not stability
Read the two ends of this board together or it will mislead you. The constitutions that have seen the most changes of executive belong to Italy and Japan, where governments fall and are replaced without the document being touched. The ones that have seen the fewest belong to countries where a single person did not leave. Frequent change of leader and a durable constitution are the same picture, not opposite ones.
Documents that outlasted their leaders
Executives whose term began while the current constitution stood. Both offices are shown, because the executive is the president in the United States and the prime minister in Italy, and one rule cannot cover both. Sort any column.
Years each is left blank for constitutions younger than 20 years, where the ratio would be noise rather than a rate.
Leaders who outlasted their constitutions
A single unbroken tenure that saw a new constitution adopted beneath it, sometimes more than once. 403 people have done it since 1789.
is an editorial flag: associated with atrocities against civilians, systemic subversion of the constitutional order, or a criminal conviction (political persecutions and annulled convictions excluded). It is a curated list, not a measurement, so a name without one has not been cleared of anything. Hover a badge for the reason on file. marks a monarch.
Thailand · Monarch · 1946 to 2016 · adopted 1947, 1949, 1968, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1997, 2007
Serbia · President · 1945 to 1980 · adopted 1946, 1953, 1963, 1974
Spain · Monarch · 1833 to 1868 · adopted 1834, 1837, 1845
Greece · Monarch · 1922 to 1947 · adopted 1925, 1926, 1927
Ethiopia · Monarch · 1930 to 1974 · adopted 1931, 1955, 1974
Morocco · Monarch · 1961 to 1999 · adopted 1962, 1970, 1972
Togo · President · 1967 to 2005 · adopted 1971, 1979, 1992
Kyrgyzstan · President · 2005 to 2010 · adopted 2006, 2007, 2010
France · Head of State (National Convention) · 1792 to 1795 · adopted 1793, 1795
France · First Consul · 1799 to 1804 · adopted 1802, 1804
Show all 40 leaders
Haiti · Emperor · 1804 to 1806 · adopted 1805, 1806
Haiti · President · 1807 to 1818 · adopted 1811, 1816
Portugal · Monarch · 1816 to 1826 · adopted 1822, 1826
Denmark · Monarch · 1848 to 1863 · adopted 1849, 1863
Russia · Chairman, Council of People's Commissars · 1917 to 1924 · adopted 1918, 1924
Poland · President (Chief of State) · 1918 to 1922 · adopted 1919, 1921
Latvia · President · 1918 to 1927 · adopted 1919, 1922
Egypt · Monarch · 1922 to 1936 · adopted 1923, 1930
Lithuania · President · 1926 to 1940 · adopted 1928, 1938
Brazil · President · 1930 to 1945 · adopted 1934, 1937
Poland · President · 1945 to 1956 · adopted 1947, 1952
Vietnam · Prime Minister · 1955 to 1987 · adopted 1960, 1980
Nepal · Monarch · 1955 to 1972 · adopted 1959, 1962
Dominican Republic · President · 1960 to 1962 · adopted 1961, 1962
Cameroon · President · 1960 to 1982 · adopted 1961, 1972
Congo · President · 1960 to 1963 · adopted 1961, 1963
Zambia · President · 1964 to 1991 · adopted 1973, 1991
Congo DR · President · 1965 to 1997 · adopted 1967, 1997
Lesotho · Prime Minister · 1965 to 1986 · adopted 1966, 1983
Guyana · Prime Minister · 1966 to 1980 · adopted 1970, 1980
Gabon · President · 1967 to 2009 · adopted 1975, 1991
Bahrain · Prime Minister · 1971 to 2020 · adopted 1973, 2002
Benin · President · 1972 to 1991 · adopted 1977, 1990
Seychelles · President · 1977 to 2004 · adopted 1979, 1993
Maldives · President · 1978 to 2008 · adopted 1998, 2008
Equatorial Guinea · President · 1979 to present · adopted 1982, 1991
Cambodia · President · 1979 to 1992 · adopted 1981, 1989
Mauritania · Prime Minister · 1984 to 1992 · adopted 1985, 1991
Cambodia · Prime Minister · 1985 to 1993 · adopted 1989, 1993
Mozambique · President · 1986 to 2005 · adopted 1990, 2004
Constitutions that have never changed hands
No executive has taken office under these documents since they were written. The person in place at adoption is still the person in place.
marks a monarch.
- Eritreasince 1997 · Isaias Afwerki
- Comorossince 2018 · Azali Assoumani
- Omansince 2021 · Haitham bin Tarik Al Said
- Malisince 2023 · Assimi Goïta
- Central African Republicsince 2023 · Félix Moloua
- Uzbekistansince 2023 · Abdulla Aripov
- Gabonsince 2024 · Raymond Ndong Sima
- Guineasince 2025 · Mamady Doumbouya
What is counted, and what is not
Rotating and ceremonial offices are excluded. Switzerland's presidency changes hands every January by rotation, so counting it would make the calmest polity in Europe the most volatile country on this page; its 27 rotations sit outside the count, as does Malaysia's five-yearly monarchy. Acting and caretaker holders are excluded as well, and so are party offices, because deciding who really governed is not this board's job.
Someone already in office when a constitution was adopted is not counted as a transition. They inherited the document rather than arriving under it, and they are listed instead beside the constitutions that have never changed hands.
Constitutional dates from the Comparative Constitutions Project, officeholders from this site's own leaders records, counted as of 2025. Built 2026-09-01. The constitutions themselves →