Constitutions & the Design of Government Chapter 9 Constitutions & the Design of Government

Constitutions A set of rules by which power is distributed Law determining the fundamental political principles of a government Most organizations & states have one Example: United States Constitution

Constitutions Vary in formality and specificity Purposeful vagueness can be advantageous (as with US Constitution) because allows new administrations to change with the changing times

Designing a Constitution Text should not break long-standing traditions of government in a state Constitution should be relatively easy to change (example: Amendment process in United States) There should be an incentive compatibility so that leaders want to follow the constitution.

Forms of Constitutional Organization Unitary: A state in which no other governmental body but the central government has any areas of policy that are exclusively under its control Federal: Local governmental authorities are set up and these localities are given certain decision making authority Federation: Two governments (example: federal and 50 states in US) have some authority to govern people

Constitutionalism Rule of law Faithful adherence and willingness to follow the intent of the Constitution