POL111H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Liberal Democracy, The Unwritten, British Subject
Document Summary
Lesson 2: constitutions: a constitution is the fundamental law of a state. It sets out the basic rules and principles by which the state will be governed (textbook, p. 278): this will include outlining the institutions of government, and the. Citizens" rights and freedoms: constitutions restrict what governments can do to their citizens, constitutions limit the government"s powers. Another fundamental feature of liberal democracies: the spirit or ethic of constitutionalism. Liberal (small l ) democracies have limited states: states restrained by the law. The textbook says most states have codified constitutions. Britain, in contrast, is said to be unusual, because it has an unwritten constitution (textbook, p. 278). Political scientists talk about: written or codified constitutions, unwritten constitutions. ***misleading b/c all constitutional documents are written down somewhere*** Congress, the supreme court, federalism): after reading this single document, you will have a good idea of the fundamental features of the us system.
