Today, mostly every democratic
country has a constitution which is a vital document, according to which
the country carries out its operations. Constitution protects the
rights of the citizens of a concerned nation, irrespective of their
religion, caste, creed, sex or physical appearance. A constitution,
thus, can be safely said to be a social contract between the government
and the people it governs. It can also be deemed as the fundamental
underlying framework of government for a nation. In a constitutional
country therefore, every person is treated equally, regardless of his
office or position and is expected to abide by higher law. For instance,
the constitution of United States, besides establishing the
government’s power also cites the fundamental rights belonging to the
people who reside within its borders. Although mostly a country’s
constitution is in written form, it need not necessarily be so. Great
Britain, for instance, has an unwritten constitution and by what they
refer to as constitution are an agglomeration of their collective legal
traditions, which include the Magna Carta of 1215, English Bill of
Rights of 1687, Acts of Parliament, as well as the collective decisions
of the British Courts. However, in case of United States, a constitution
refers to the written document that lays out the structure and function
of a federal government along with the Bill of Rights. This article
discusses the role of constitution to keep a nation united.
Significance Of Constitution
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The primary function of a constitution is to lay out the basic structure of the government according to which the people are to be governed. It is the constitution of a country, which establishes the three main organs of the government, namely, the legislature, executive and judiciary.
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The constitution of a country not only defines the powers allotted to each of the three main organs, but it also significantly makes a clear demarcation of the responsibilities assigned to each of them. It effectively regulates the relationship between these organs as well as the relationship between the government and its people.
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Since the country’s constitution stands superior to all the laws framed within the territorial precincts of the country, any law enacted by the ruling government has to be in conformity with the concerned constitution. As such, the citizens would, in turn, be abiding by not just the law, but also working in sync with the demarcations of the constitution laid by the country.
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The constitution does not simply provide a recipe for an efficient government, but also deals with limitations on power. Since power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, a constitution is established to restrict the abuse of power by those who conduct governmental functions.
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The constitution of a particular country lays down the national goals which form the basic edifice on which the nation rests upon. For instance, the constitution of India has inscribed in it the primary facets of the nation which are democracy, socialism, secularism and national integration.
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A constitution, besides thrusting on the rights of the citizens of the concerned nation, also has embedded in it the duties that the citizens require to adhere to as well.
