It is one of the celebrated maxims of political science that there can be no well-ordered society without a state; another ancillary axiom is that there can be no state without a constitution of its own. Though the word ‘constitution’ is used in many senses (as constitution of a body, constitution of a trade union, constitution of a political party, etc.), we are concerned with its use in a political sense alone, which signifies the constitution of the state. If so, every state has a constitution of its own and, by virtue of that, in a literal sense, it is a ‘constitutional state.’ But, as we shall see, the term ‘constitutional state’ has assumed a normative connotation; now it has become another term for a ‘democratic political order.’ The very idea that every state must have a constitution of its own and that its government must be organised and conducted according to the rules of the constitution so that the people have a ‘rule of law’ and not a ‘rule of man,’ constitutes the essence of ‘constitutionalism.’

Constitution

Meaning

In simple terms, the constitution of a state may be defined as a body of rules and regulations, written as well as unwritten, through which the government is organised and functions. However, in order to meet the requirements of a democratic order, a constitution also embodies certain principles that specify the relationship between individuals and the state, often in the form of a charter of fundamental rights and obligations. Thus, a constitution “may be said to be a collection of principles according to which the powers of the government, the rights of the governed, and the relations between the two are adjusted.” In other words, it may be described as a framework of political society organised through and by law, where law establishes permanent institutions with recognised functions and definite rights. By all means, it is a legal document, referred to by different names such as the rules of the state, instrument of government, fundamental law of the land, basic statute of the polity, or the cornerstone of the nation-state.

The rules of a constitution may exist in a written form—detailed or brief—or they may largely appear in the form of maxims, usages, precedents, and customs. Yet, as a whole, these rules determine the organisation and operation of the government. A constitution may be a deliberate creation, written as a single document by an assembly or convention, or it may take shape as a bundle of authoritative documents, as in the case of the English constitution.

According to K.C. Wheare, the word ‘constitution’ is used in at least two senses in ordinary political discussions. First, it refers to the entire system of government of a country, that is, the collection of rules which establish, regulate, and govern it. These rules are partly legal (in the sense that courts recognise and enforce them) and partly non-legal or extra-legal (in the form of usages, customs, understandings, and conventions which courts do not treat as law, yet which remain equally effective in regulating government). In most countries, the system of government consists of a mixture of legal and non-legal rules, and it is this entire collection that may be referred to as the constitution.