Introduction
Every country must have a constitution as the constitution helps and guides in governing a country. History tells that since the origin of the countries there have been some kinds of rules and regulations to maintain the order and harmony. In every country be it democratic or despotic it is essential that rules must be accepted which would decide the role and organization of political institutions in order to save the society from anarchy. And now, in modern states these rules took the appearance in the form of a constitution.
Meaning of a constitution
A constitution is a basic design, which deals with the structure and powers of the government. It also includes rights and duties of citizens. Very often ‘constitution’ is understood as a document which has been written and accepted at a particular time, but this is not the true meaning of constitution, constitution may be written or may be unwritten.
Sometimes it is found as an established body of rules, maxims, traditions and practices in accordance with which its government is organized and its powers and exercised. Many political thinkers have tried to define the term ‘constitution’.
Aristotle explains, “Constitution as the way in which, citizens or the component parts of the state are arranged in relation to one another”.
According to Woolsey, a constitution “the collection of principal according to which he powers of the government rights of the government and relations between the two are adjusted.”
Bryce defines it as “the aggregate of laws and customs under which the life of state goes on the complex totality of laws embodying the principles and rules whereby the community is organized, governed and held together”.
Herman Finer says, - “the state is a human grouping in which rules a certain power relationship between its individuals and associated constituents. This power relationship is embodied in political institutions. The system of fundamental political institutions is the constitution the autobiography of the power relationship.”
Bouncier defines a constitution as “the fundamental law of a state directing the principles upon which the government is founded and regulating the exercise of the sovereign powers, directly to what bodies of persons thee powers shall be confined and the manner of their exercise.
George Cornewell Lewis describes the constitution as “the arrangement and distribution of sovereign power in the community or the form of the government”.
Charles Baregeaud says – “A constitution is the fundamental law according to which the relations of individuals or normal persons to the community are determined. It may be a written instrument, a precise text or series of text enacted at a given time by a sovereign power or it may be the more or less definite results of a series of legislative acts, ordinances, judicial decisions, precedents and customs of diverse origin and of unequal and importance”.
Sir James Mackintosh says “By the constitution of a state, means the body of those written or unwritten fundamental laws which regulate the most important rights of the higher magistrates the most essential privileges of the subjects.
According to Leacock - “constitution is the form of government”.
Austin has defined constitution saying, “That it fixes the structure of supreme government.”
Hence, on the basis of above definitions we can say that,
Need for a constitution
Since the days of American Revolution (1776) the idea of a constitution as an essential and important document was firmly rooted in every country. Today constitution has become the foundation of democracy. A constitution is needed for a variety of reasons listed below:
Amendment of a constitution
A written constitution must have procedure for amending the constitution and it is regarded as an essential part of every written constitution. The method of amendment only guarantees application and sacredness of the constitution. The method of amendment may be simple or may be a Complex and difficult procedure.
If it is simple and enables the political sovereign to express its will; there can be no conflict between the actual conditions and legal organization. But an easy method of amendment may lead to instability.
If the constitution is having difficult method of amendment it may result in one of the two things.
The method of amendment must be such that it should neither give instability nor generate revolution. As Jennings says “A constitution has to work not only in the environment in which it was drafted but also centuries later. It must therefore be capable of adoption to new conditions as they rise.”
Essentials of a good constitution
It is possible that a particular type of constitution may prove useful for a particular country, but for another country it may not prove useful. For example a federal constitution is suitable for India, but it is not suitable for Nepal, Myanmar and Pakistan. It depends on the social and economic set up of the country. Every state has a right to decide and frame its own constitution. A good constitution must have the following qualities.
Most of the qualities above are available in the constitution of India.
Types of constitutions
The classification of the constitutions is not a modern idea. There are different bases on which the constitutions are classified. Aristotle for the first time adopted a scientific method to classify the constitution.
His classification is based on the study of 158 constitutions of the ancient world. He has classified the constitution on the basis of location of sovereign power and end or purpose towards which the power was directed. States which seed the good life of all are true or normal states. Those which deviate from that end are perverted states. His classification is illustrated by the following table.
| Form of Constitution | Pure form* |
Perverted form* |
|---|---|---|
| Rule by One | Monarchy | Tyranny |
| Rule by Two | Aristocracy | Oligarchy |
| Rule by Many | Polity | Democracy |
* Pure form of constitution seeks common welfare whereas Perverted form ignores common welfare.
After Aristotle several other political thinkers have tried to classify the constitution. Among them the most scientific and acceptable to modern states is that of Leacock. Modern constitutions are classified in the following manner.
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