Constitution and Constitutionalism: Meaning and Basic Issues

-

CONSTITUTION BY A.O. EZE

     Every state, in fact every political organization, club, or other group has a constitution, or set of rules by which power is distributed among the members (Shively, 2005). Constitution is the fundamental law in a state that sets principles on how a state should be governed. According to Roskin et al (1988: 46) political scientists, view it as “that set of rules and customs, either written or unwritten, legally established or extralegal, by which a government conducts its affairs.” In the same vein Heywood (2007:316) contends logically that a constitution is a “set of rules, written and unwritten, that seeks to establish the duties, powers and functions of the various institutions of government, regulate the relationships between them, and define the relationship between the state and the individual.”

     Constitution is the mother of other laws. It is the fundamental law of the state. Constitution states the powers, functions, and rights of government and that of individuals (subjects) in a state. Roskin et al further assert that “government and the people both must have certain powers and rights, but their activities must also be limited in order to keep them from encroaching on the rights of others.” And there is no other legitimate way of doing that apart from constitution.

     According to Okeke, L.E (2006:33), “Constitutional laws are public laws, but all public laws are not necessarily constitutional laws”. The foregoing assertion means that there are other laws but not all laws are constitutional laws. Therefore a constitution is supreme among other laws.  (See Law).

Other types of laws are:

1.Criminal law:  It deals with crimes and criminalities committed against the state or individual

2.Civil law: It deals with an individual social relationship with others

3.Case-law or Judicial precedent or Judge made Law: This is law made by a judge in the process of interpreting other existing laws.

4.International Law: This is law made by international organizations like the United Nations.

5.Statutory Law: This is law made by parliament. It is also called Act of Parliament.

             Types of Constitution

      There are basically two types of constitution across the world geopolitical zones. Constitution of any state can either fit in or categorize as one of the following. These are:

1.Written Constitution: This type of constitution is contained in a single document and it is usually rigid to amend. Its advantage is that, it is very easy to assess and make reference to, due to the fact that all its provisions are codified in a single document. Many countries in the world like Nigeria, USA, Tanzania, Sweden, Spain, South Africa, Namibia, Liberia, Kuwait etc., have written constitution.

2.Unwritten Constitution: A constitution can either be written or unwritten. Unwritten constitution does not mean that the provisions of the constitution are not written down rather it means that its provisions are not contained or codified in a single bounded document. This type of constitution is usually flexible to amendment. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) is a good example of country that has unwritten constitution.

Forms or Structures of Constitution

     Constitution can be classified into three forms depending on the system of government in practice in the country.

These are:

1.Unitary Constitution: This is a structural form of constitution used in a unitary system of government. (See Unitarianism).

2.Federal Constitution: It is a form of constitution used in the federal system of government. (See federalism).

3.Confederal Constitution: It is a type of constitution that applies in the confederal system of government.
(See Confederalism).

The Purpose of a Constitution

   There is no doubt that every constitution has a purpose or purposes whether written or unwritten. Its roles in any society especially in this contemporary modern democratic world cannot be overestimated. This is because it is the constitution that justifies the right of government to govern.  Heywood (2007), states that the purpose of a constitution is to empower states, to establish unifying values and goals, to provide government stability, to protect freedom, and to legitimize regime.  Roskin and his co-writers (1988: 50- 51) enunciated three basic role of constitution as thus:

1.A Statement of national ideals
2.Formalizes the structure of government
3.Establishes the legitimacy of government

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CONCEPT OF COMMODIFICATION OF LABOUR

-
COMMODIFICATION OF LABOUR      Commodification of labour is the transformation of human labour or power into commodity which can be sold and bought. It is one of the characteristics of capitalism.  In a capitalist society, there are two broad classes: class who owns the means of production (bourgeoisie or the haves) and class who does not own the means of production (proletariat or the have-nots).      Hence, for those who do not own the means of production to survive they have to sell their labour power to those who have the means of production. In other words, they have to be employed and work for those who own the means of production as workers so that the owner of industry can exploit their labour power and pay them salaries or wages for their services depending on the monetary value of their labour. Therefore, they have sold or commodified their labour power in exchange for salaries or wages.      As Claude Ake (1981), rightly observes that the exchange between the buyers (em
Read more

1953 Kano Riot: Causes and Implications by Andrew Oforma Eze

-
            1953 Kano Riot      Kano riot was a political crisis mainly between northerners and southerners in ancient city of Kano in May 1953. The nature of the riot was clashes between Northerners who were opposed to self-government and Southerners made up of the Yorubas and the Igbos under the aegis of the Action Group (AG) and the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroon (NCNC) who supported self-government for Nigeria in 1956. The political riot lasted for four days.  Many lives were lost and many persons were wounded. The Causes of 1953 Kano Riot The immediate cause of the crisis was the motion of self-government moved in the Federal House of Representatives by a member of Action Group (AG) Chief Anthony Enahoro in 1953 on the need for Nigeria to attain self-government in 1956 from British imperial masters. The Northern representatives under the aegis of the Northern People's Congress (NPC) did not accept the motion on the ground that the north will not be ready f
Read more

CENTRE-PERIPHERY / DEPENDENCY THEORY

-
CENTRE-PERIPHERY / DEPENDENCY THEORY     This is a theory that explains the structural inequalities between western or developed countries like the United States, Germany, China, France, Canada etc., and the underdeveloped or poor countries like Nigeria, Sudan, Niger, Iraq, Haiti, Kenya, Somalia, Mali, Central Africa Republic, etc.      This theory or model divides the world into two unequal poles namely: the centre nations and the periphery nations. The centre nations are the advanced or developed countries while the periphery nations are the under developed or poor countries. Hence, the theory explains that the centre nations, through imperialism and colonialism lured the periphery nations into the capitalist world (mode of production) which they (peripheries) do not know how to operate or to capitalize effectively and rationally. Due to the ignorance of periphery nations on how to run or manage capitalist economy, they wholeheartedly depend on the imperialist nations who use the
Read more