It has no answer for potential issues with the judges or parliamentarians.
People has not specialized knowledge and power is placed on them.
Lecture 2: Comparing Constitutions
Brief history
The term constitution originates in biology/medicine.
The state of one’s human body. Good state of health.
Started to be metaphorically used to describe the political state or nature of
population.
The situation of a group of people as determined by different factors.
o Geography, climate, composition, rules, etc.
Progressively, its usage narrows down to identify the institutional shape and
makeup of the political settlement in a country.
A specific legal for this world meaning existed, in parallel.
'Constitutiones’ were a specific type of laws.
Roman Empire: constitutions of Caracalla.
Things changed because of 2 revolutions in 18 th century.
French Revolution.
US revolution/independence.
Despite revolutions were important, it wasn’t the beginning of Constitutional History
in modern sense.
Varied countries have had previously experimented with a certain kind of
document/set of rules.
o It aspired to order the exercise of power in nations.
o Even monarchical nations had tried with these documents prior to the
existence of the US and French Constitutions.
o US was less transformative than it is traditionally thought.
1750-onwards: a break in the past, in a constitutional sense.
The UK Constitutional Framework cannot be understood without history.
It eroded by accident across the centuries and a long before.
o It has been construed across the history, rather than with a sudden
break with the past history of the country.
Despite Glorious Revolution, not a terrible breakout with the past history.
o UK constitutionalism hasn’t experimented the break with the past, as it
happened in other countries.
, o Glorious Revolution was a relevant part of that history, instead of a
brutal change of what had happened before.
UK Constitutionalism is a product of that history, not of a break.
What is a modern Constitution for?
It is supposed to establish legitimate governmental power.
Conditions of exercise that the government should rule.
The limits of what governments can do.
Legitimation, regulation, and limitation of government (at the same time).
Comprehensively regulate the exercise of public power (and private sometimes).
It regulates the entire use of public power.
o It establishes who and what should pursue the power.
All the powers of the state must face back to the Constitution.
Don’t presuppose the right of the pre-existing ruler to rule but constitute it.
o Metaphor of the social contract.
It started to provide a blueprint for the common good of the people.
Aspirational/foundational values of a society.
o Ex: people are born equal and there shouldn’t be discriminated.
It provides rights for the citizens.
o How are these rights effectively provided?
It has progressively acquired a symbolic function.
It means a lot more than a simple written document.
o Most of them are written/codified documents anyway.
How does the modern constitutions do all those things?
Modern constitutions are comprehensive.
They tend to regulate and limit all government.
o Including legislatures.
Government, in this sense, means the entire state apparatus.
o Three state powers.
o Government in narrow sense: executive power.
The constitution itself is normatively superior to ordinary legislation.
There is a hierarchy of laws in a country: Kelsen pyramid.
There are especial procedures to do amendments to the constitution.
o Ordinary legislation cannot modify the constitution.
This implies the idea of rejection of ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGNTY.
People has not specialized knowledge and power is placed on them.
Lecture 2: Comparing Constitutions
Brief history
The term constitution originates in biology/medicine.
The state of one’s human body. Good state of health.
Started to be metaphorically used to describe the political state or nature of
population.
The situation of a group of people as determined by different factors.
o Geography, climate, composition, rules, etc.
Progressively, its usage narrows down to identify the institutional shape and
makeup of the political settlement in a country.
A specific legal for this world meaning existed, in parallel.
'Constitutiones’ were a specific type of laws.
Roman Empire: constitutions of Caracalla.
Things changed because of 2 revolutions in 18 th century.
French Revolution.
US revolution/independence.
Despite revolutions were important, it wasn’t the beginning of Constitutional History
in modern sense.
Varied countries have had previously experimented with a certain kind of
document/set of rules.
o It aspired to order the exercise of power in nations.
o Even monarchical nations had tried with these documents prior to the
existence of the US and French Constitutions.
o US was less transformative than it is traditionally thought.
1750-onwards: a break in the past, in a constitutional sense.
The UK Constitutional Framework cannot be understood without history.
It eroded by accident across the centuries and a long before.
o It has been construed across the history, rather than with a sudden
break with the past history of the country.
Despite Glorious Revolution, not a terrible breakout with the past history.
o UK constitutionalism hasn’t experimented the break with the past, as it
happened in other countries.
, o Glorious Revolution was a relevant part of that history, instead of a
brutal change of what had happened before.
UK Constitutionalism is a product of that history, not of a break.
What is a modern Constitution for?
It is supposed to establish legitimate governmental power.
Conditions of exercise that the government should rule.
The limits of what governments can do.
Legitimation, regulation, and limitation of government (at the same time).
Comprehensively regulate the exercise of public power (and private sometimes).
It regulates the entire use of public power.
o It establishes who and what should pursue the power.
All the powers of the state must face back to the Constitution.
Don’t presuppose the right of the pre-existing ruler to rule but constitute it.
o Metaphor of the social contract.
It started to provide a blueprint for the common good of the people.
Aspirational/foundational values of a society.
o Ex: people are born equal and there shouldn’t be discriminated.
It provides rights for the citizens.
o How are these rights effectively provided?
It has progressively acquired a symbolic function.
It means a lot more than a simple written document.
o Most of them are written/codified documents anyway.
How does the modern constitutions do all those things?
Modern constitutions are comprehensive.
They tend to regulate and limit all government.
o Including legislatures.
Government, in this sense, means the entire state apparatus.
o Three state powers.
o Government in narrow sense: executive power.
The constitution itself is normatively superior to ordinary legislation.
There is a hierarchy of laws in a country: Kelsen pyramid.
There are especial procedures to do amendments to the constitution.
o Ordinary legislation cannot modify the constitution.
This implies the idea of rejection of ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGNTY.
