POL 2104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Precedent, A Priori And A Posteriori, Constitution

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POL 2104
• Professor: Joseph Roman

Document Summary

Constitutions and the judiciary: rules of the state, regulating political relations, types of constitutions. Judges and their roles in constitution and decision-making. The birth of constitutions: regime change, losing a war and undergoing construction. *not all constitutions are necessarily generated from within. Forms of constitutions: codified: written down, uncodified: guided by conventions that are derived from traditions (uk) Accumulation of experiences and ways of doing things determine a convention. Inherently limited: constitutions tend to be born out of circumstances and their applications are difficult to discern, constitutions as a living document, constitutions only apply to the public sphere. Features of constitutions: most constitutions are codified. Fundamental laws outline political procedures and supreme laws. An entrenched status that makes a constitution a special legal document that. Elements of a fair and democratic constitution: democratic constitutions ought to provide modicums of fairness to maximize political participation and open the door to change. Final arbiters varies according to type of government.