​​This study explores how the Syrian constitution transformed between 1973 and 2024, from a framework intended to regulate political authority into a functional instrument designed to legitimize personalized, securitized, and partisan rule. The study argues that the personalization of the presidency, the militarization of the state, and the politicization of the public sphere have effectively stripped the constitution of its contractual substance, giving rise to what may be termed a “constitutional security state”. It further argues that the regime squandered two critical opportunities for constitutional reform – namely, the 2012 Constitution and the Constitutional Committee process (2019–2024), thereby deepening the crisis of legal and political legitimacy. The study concludes that restoring legitimacy and rebuilding the modern Syrian state necessitates the establishment of a new constitutional compact grounded in popular sovereignty, the civic nature of the state, judicial independence, and the principles of transitional justice.​​​