POL 101W Chapter 7: Chapter 7 Readings
13 May 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
New interest in constitutions among political scientists, generated by 2 major developments: A growing recognition that the design of state institutions can have an important bearing on political outcomes and on political behaviour itself. Drafting of new constitutions in many states in the past 2 decades: what is a constitution? (page 165) Constitution: the body of fundamental laws, rules, and practices that defines the basic structures of government, allocates power among governmental institutions, and regulates the political relationship between citizens and the state. Constitution: a specific document or collection of documents that embody the legal rules of the constitution. Constitutions embody norms and understandings about the appropriate exercise of political power: emergence of modern constitutions (page 165) The principles of constitutionalism holds that political leaders, no matter how exalted, are bound to follow the constitution. Idea is relatively new having been established in england in 1688, when parliament achieved supremacy over the king, known as the glorious.
