Modern constitution-making is assumed to adhere to the founding tenants of classical constitutionalism. Since a constitution governs citizens, the citizens ought to have the authority to construct and amend it. In practice, however, this is increasingly being challenged. This paper confronts the persistent underlying assumption that external actors are not and should not be involved in the constitution-making process. In the case of Tunisia, International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) were involved in the drafting process, however very little is known about their role. This paper therefore asks: What type of role did INGOs play in Tunisia’s constitution-making? And how did their involvement influence the constitution? I argue that INGOs influenced the constitutional text, in addition to impacting the process, the state, and local civil society. INGOs significantly contributed to the development of Tunisia’s constitutional regime by way of training constituent members and local actors, organizing workshops, providing financial assistance, as well as supplying other means of ideational and material support. Constituent member participants in particular agree that the involvement of experienced international actors was necessary to fill the expertise gap in the state. After 54 years of authoritarianism, the state was arguably democratically deficient. Furthermore, as self-interested actors, INGOs eagerly dedicated their resources and support to the constitution-making process in order to advance interests they believed to be of importance. INGOs met their constitutional objectives vis-à-vis direct access to the state and its actors, and indirect access through local civil society. These findings call for a broad re-conceptualization of the role international actors has in the state during constitution-making. International actors in relation to engaging in constitution-making need not always be precarious; these actors help in developing the democratic legitimacy of a constitutional regime. Particularly for Tunisia, this research calls into question assumptions concerning judicial decision-making, constitutional identity, and the rule of law. Due to the engagement of INGOs, these important concepts are seemingly altered. This research is based on four months of fieldwork in the summer of 2016 in Tunisia. Interviews were conducted with INGOs, local NGOs, and constituent members.