What is CONSTITUTION LAW?
The corpus of rules, beliefs, and practices that regulate the operation of political communities is known as constitutional law. The state has been the most significant political community in contemporary times.
The nature of constitutional law
A constitution, in the widest sense, is a set of rules that regulate the operations of an organised organisation. A constitution is a formal written document that governs a parliament, a religious congregation, a social club, or a labour organisation. The constitution does not include all of the organisation’s regulations; many additional rules (for example, bylaws and customs) exist as well. The rules outlined in the constitution are regarded basic by definition, in the sense that unless they are updated in accordance with a proper method, all other regulations must comply to them.Thus, if a proposal violates a clause in the constitution, the presiding officer of an organisation may be required to declare it out of order. The idea of a “higher law” that takes precedence over all other laws is implicit in the concept of a constitution.
Seven Basic Principles
The Constitution is founded on seven fundamental ideas. Popular sovereignty, limited government, separation of powers, federalism, checks and balances, republicanism, and individual rights are examples of these principles.
- Popular Sovereignty -The authors of the Constitution lived in an era when kings claimed divine right to rule. With its references to “We the People,” the Preamble expresses a revolutionary new idea: that a government derives its legitimacy from the people.
- Limited Government-The colonists had been subjected to the harsh authority of a monarch. To avert such tyranny in their new government, the founders made limited government a constitutional principle. In a limited government, the government has just the powers granted to it by the Constitution.
- separation of Powers– The framers included a provision for separation of powers to further restrict government authority. The government is divided into three branches according to the Constitution.
- Checks and Balances -A system of checks and balances prevents misuse of authority. Each arm of government has the authority to check or limit the other two.
- Federalism– The principle of federalism, or the distribution of authority between the federal government and the states, is also established by the Constitution. Among the powers granted to the federal government by the Constitution are the authority to create money, declare war, and regulate interstate commerce. States control trade inside their borders, set electoral procedures, and establish schools. Some authorities are shared by the federal government and the states.
- Republicanism– The Constitution establishes a republican system of governance. Rather of directly participating in governance, voters pick representatives to carry out their wishes.
- Individual Rights– The Constitution safeguards individual rights, which are fundamental liberties that the government agrees to defend.Examples of these rights are freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to trial by jury.