How is Tunisia remaking its political institutions after the uprising of January 2011? And how does the perception by Tunisians of their political history plays into the transition process? My paper will focus on the debates and discussions that took place during the year 2011 about the reform of the constitution and the laws organizing political life of Tunisia more generally. In particular, I will examine how democracy was defined throughout these debates, and how the participants (political parties, lawyers, representatives of civil associations….) redeployed narratives from Tunisian history: from reformism and early nationalism to the post-colonial period, in particular the Bourguibian period (1956-1987), but also from Islamic narratives, and from the repertoires of mobilization used by the demonstrators between December 2010 and January 2011 (slogans, messages posted on the internet etc..), to imagine the political future of Tunisia. I will also pay attention to the perception of the modes of transition in other parts of the region of the Middle East such as Egypt -and may be other countries. The paper will analyze televised debates, published materials such as periodicals and videos, as well as interviews that I will conduct in the summer of 2011 with legal scholars and representatives of civil society in Tunisia. It will contribute to a broader analysis of theories of transition.