A constituent assembly orconstitutional assembly is a body or assembly of popularly elected representatives composed for the purpose of DRAFTING or adopting a document called the constitution. The constituent assembly is a subset of aconstitutional convention elected entirely by popular vote; that is, all constituent assemblies are constitutional CONVENTIONS, but a constitutional convention is not necessarily a constituent assembly. As the fundamental document constituting a state, a constitution cannot normally be modified or amended by the state's normal legislative PROCEDURES; instead a constitutional convention or a constituent assembly, the rules for which are normally laid down in the constitution, must be set up. A constituent assembly is usually set up for its specific purpose, which it carries out in a relatively short time, after which the assembly is dissolved. A constituent assembly is a form of representative democracy.

Unlike forms of constitution-making in which a constitution is unilaterally imposed by a sovereign lawmaker, the constituent assembly creates a constitution through "INTERNALLY imposed" actions, in that members of the constituent assembly are themselves citizens, but not necessarily the RULERS, of the country for which they are creating a constitution.[1] As described by Columbia University Social Sciences Professor Jon Elster: