Every state has a constitution, since every state functions on the basis of certain rules and principles. It has often been asserted that the United States has a written constitution but that the constitution of Great Britain is unwritten. This is true, but only in the sense that in the United States there is a formal document called the Constitution, whereas there is no such document in Great Britain. In fact, however, many parts of the British Constitution exist in written form, whereas important aspects of the American Constitution are wholly unwritten. Written constitutions can concern themselves exclusively or prevalently with the organization of government or deal extensively with the rights of people and with the goals of governmental action.
Written constitutions are said to be normative when their binding principles are more or less all observed in the actual operations of the political system. This applies to the Constitutions of the United States, Canada, and of some western European countries. Other constitutions are said to be nominal, because they are largely or in substantial parts disregarded and do not provide insight into the real functioning of the system. This is often the case with constitutions of rapidly developing countries and of countries ruled by a one-person or a one-party dictatorship.
Constitutions, written or unwritten, must be distinguished according to whether they are rigid or flexible. Rigid are those constitutions at least some part of which cannot be modified in ordinary legislative way. Flexible are those whose rules can all be modified through the simple procedure by which statutes are enacted. The United States has a rigid constitution, because proposals to amend the constitutional document adopted in 1788 can only be added through a complex procedure of majority vote in each house of Congress. Great Britain has a flexible constitution because all of its constitutional institutions and rules can be modified by an act of Parliament.
Vocabulary
act n , , ; act of Parliament
amend v , , ( , .)
binding adj , ; binding principles
dictatorship n ; one-party dictatorship
disregard v , ,
enact v , ; , (),
enactment n , (); , , , , ( ),
exclusively adv , ,
extensively adv , , ,
flexible adj , ,
goal n ,
house of Congress
insight (into) n -.,
modify v , ; modify the rules /
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nominal adj , ,
normative adj
observe v (, , )
operation n , ,
prevalently adv , ,
rapidly developing countries
rigid adj , ,
rule n , , , ,
statute n ,
substantial adj , , ,
vote n , ; , , , ; majority vote ;
written constitution ; unwritten constitution
Reading tasks
A Answer these questions.
1 Why is it necessary for every state to have a constitution?
2 What type of constitutions do the United States and Great Britain have?
3 What are the characteristic features of existing constitutions?
4 What examples from the text illustrate these features?
B Complete the following sentences according to the information in the text.
1 The USA has a written constitution but the constitution of Great Britain is .
2 In normative constitutions binding principles are .
3 Nominal constitutions do not provide .
4 If at least some part of the constitution .
5 In flexible constitutions rules can all be modified through .
Language focus
A Translate the following expressions into Russian paying special attention to the present participle.
1 leading documents
2 statutes dealing with the structure of the courts
3 developing countries
4 constitutions existing in European countries
5 providing insight
6 modifying rules
B Open the brackets putting the verbs in the Present Perfect active or passive form.
One of the reasons for having special constitutional laws is to prevent governments from becoming too powerful and from interfering too much in the lives of individuals. Whereas socialist legal systems 1) ________ (tend) to try to define exactly what the state allowed citizens to do, Anglo-American law 2) _______ (concern) with defining what the state could do, arguing that citizens are entitled to do everything other than that which the state forbids. As a check upon overpowerful government most modern constitutions 3) _______ (adopt) the principle of separation of powers, developed in the 18th century by the French political philosopher Montesquieu.
Many presidents 4) ______ (have) important policies blocked by Congress. The Supreme Court (judiciary) has the task of interpreting laws which 5) _______ (dispute) in lower courts, and of deciding whether a law passed by Congress or by one of the individual states is in keeping with the Constitution.
Vocabulary tasks
A Match the following English expressions with their Russian equivalents.
1 act of Parliament a
2 operations of political system b
3 amend the constitutional document c
4 deal with the rights of people d
5 majority vote e
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6 one-party dictatorship f
7 modify the rules g
8 binding principles h
9 ordinary legislative way i
10 rapidly developing countries j
B Complete the text with an appropriate preposition from the box.
| above against among by for in of on within |
There are also laws which enable citizens to take legal action 1) ______ the state against, for example, a public authority or even against the government itself. These actions are part of constitutional law.
As knowledge of the law has increased 2) ______ the general public, so have the number and range of constitutional law cases.
A constitution is the political and ideological structure 3) ______ which a system 4) ______ laws operates. Most countries have a formal written constitution describing how laws are to be made and enforced. The French Constitution, for example, sets a seven year term of office 5) _____ the president; the US Constitution sets a four year term. In Switzerland, a referendum (national vote) must be held 6) ______ any issue for which a petition signed 7) ______ 10,000 people has been gathered; in Ireland, referenda are to be used only in the case of changes in the constitution itself. 8) ______ Germany, a change in the constitution requires a special majority vote in parliament, not the simple majority necessary for other laws. Many other countries put the constitution 9) _______ other laws by making it difficult to change.
Over to you
For discussion:
Can a person or society as a whole live without any constitution? Are there any examples of this?
