Characteristics of Constitutions
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
actn акт, закон, постановление; act of Parliamentпостановление парламента
amendv вносить поправки, изменения, дополнения (в конституцию, закон и пр.)
bindingadjобязательный, обязывающий;binding principlesобязательные принципы
dictatorshipnдиктатура;one-party dictatorshipоднопартийная диктатура
disregardv не принимать во внимание, игнорировать, не обращать внимания
enactv предписывать, постановлять; принимать, вводить в действие (закон),
устанавливать в законодательном порядке
enactmentn издание, принятие (закона); законодательный акт, закон, указ, статут, постановление (законодательной власти), статья закона
exclusivelyadv исключительно, единственно, только
extensivelyadv пространно, обширно, широко, экстенсивно
flexibleadj гибкий, маневренный, подвижный
goaln цель, задача
house of Congressпалата Конгресса США
insight(into)n проникновение в суть чего-л., способность проникновения в сущность
modifyvмодифицировать, видоизменять;modify the rulesвидоизменять правила/нормы права
nominaladj номинальный, условный, символический
normativeadj нормативный
observev соблюдать (правила, обычаи, принципы)
operationn действие, работа, функционирование
prevalentlyadv общепринято, во многих случаях, главным образом
rapidly developing countriesбыстро развивающиеся страны
rigidadj жесткий, строгий, неукоснительный
rulen правило, норма права, постановление, предписание, приказ
statuten статут, законодательный акт
substantialadj значительный, основной, главный, реально существующий
votenголос, право голоса; голосование, число голосов, вотум, решение;majority vote решение большинством голосов; большинство голосов
written constitutionписаная конституция;unwritten constitutionнеписаная конституция
Reading tasks
AAnswer these questions.
1Why is it necessary for every state to have a constitution?
2What type of constitutions do the United States and Great Britain have?
3What are the characteristic features of existing constitutions?
4What examples from the text illustrate these features?
BComplete the following sentences according to the information in the text.
1The USA has a written constitution but the constitution of Great Britain is … .
2In “normative” constitutions binding principles are … .
3“Nominal” constitutions do not provide … .
4If at least some part of the constitution … .
5In “flexible” constitutions rules can all be modified through … .
Language focus
ATranslate the following expressions into Russian paying special attention to the present participle.
1leading documents
2statutes dealing with the structure of the courts
3developing countries
4constitutions existing in European countries
5providing insight
6modifying rules
BOpen 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
AMatch the following English expressions with their Russian equivalents.
1act of Parliament aобязательные принципы
2operations of political system bрешение большинством голосов
3amend the constitutional document cдействия политической системы
4deal with the rights of people dобычный законодательный путь
5majority vote eвносить поправки в текст конституции
6one-party dictatorship fбыстро развивающиеся страны
7modify the rules g видоизменять правовые нормы
8binding principles hпостановление парламента
9ordinary legislative way iиметь дело с правами человека
10rapidly developing countriesjоднопартийная диктатура
BComplete 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?