The First Function of A Constitution Is To Provide A Set of Basic Rules That Allow For Minimal Coordination Amongst Members of A Society

Constitution allows coordination and Assurance.
( group need certain basic rules.)
1. The first function of a constitution is to provide a set of basic rules that

allow for minimal coordination amongst members of a society.
A constitution is a body of fundamental principles according to which a state is

constituted or governed.
In principle, this question, who gets to decide, can be answered in many ways:
A) In a monarchical constitution, a monarch decides;
B) in some constitutions like the old Soviet Union, one single party was given
the power to decide.
C) But in democratic constitutions, broadly speaking, the people get to decide.
How should the people decide?

For something to be law, should everyone agree to it?
Should the people directly vote on each matter as the ancient
Greeks did?
Or should the people express their preferences by electing
representatives?
But if the people act through their representatives,
how should these representatives be elected?
How many should there be?.
In the Indian Constitution for example, it is specified that in most instances,

Parliament gets to decide laws and policies, and that Parliament itself be organised
in a particular manner. Before identifying what the law in any given society is, you
have to identify who has the authority to enact it. If Parliament has the authority to
enact laws, there must be a law that bestows this authority on Parliament in the
first place. This is the function of the constitution. It is an authority that constitutes
government in the first place.
2. The second function of a constitution is to specify who has the power to

make decisions in a society.It decides how the government will be
constituted.
Limitations on the powers of government.

certain procedures there would be something obviously unjust about that
government enacting these laws.
3. third function of a constitution is to set some limits on what a

government can impose on its citizens. These limits are fundamental in
the sense that government may never trespass them.
The most common way of limiting the power of government is to specify certain
fundamental rights that all of us possess as citizens and which no government
can ever be allowed to violate.
Citizens will normally have the right to some basic liberties:

A. to freedom of speech,
B. freedom of conscience,
C. freedom of association,
D. freedom to conduct a trade or business etc. In practice,
these rights can be limited during times of national
emergency and the constitution specifies the
circumstances under which these rights may be
withdrawn..
Aspirations and goals of a society
Most of the older constitutions limited themselves largely to allocating decision-

making power and setting some limits to government power. But many twentieth
century constitutions, of which the Indian Constitution is the finest example, also
provide an enabling framework for the government to do certain positive things, to
express the aspirations and goals of society.
For example, India aspires to be a society that is free of caste discrimination. If this
is our society’s aspiration, the government will have to be enabled or empowered
to take all the necessary steps to achieve this goal. In a country like South Africa,
which had a deep history of racial discrimination, its new constitution had to
enable the government to end racial discrimination.
The framers of the Indian Constitution, for example, thought that each individual
in society should have all that is necessary for them to lead a life of minimal
dignity and social self-respect — minimum material well being, education etc. The
Indian Constitution enables the government to take positive welfare measures
some of which are legally enforceable.
4. The fourth function of a constitution is to enable the government to
fulfil the aspirations of a society and create conditions for a just society.
Constitution of South Africa assigns many responsibilities to the government: it

wants the government to take measures to promote conservation of nature, make
efforts to protect persons or groups subjected to unfair discrimination, and provides
that the government must progressively ensure adequate housing to all, health care,
etc.
􀂓 In the case of Indonesia also, the government is enjoined to establish and
conduct national education system. The Indonesian Constitution ensures that the
poor and destitute children will be looked after by the government.
Fundamental identity of a people……..
This means the people as a collective entity come into being only through the basic
constitution. It is by agreeing to a basic set of norms about how one should be
governed, and who should be governed that one forms a collective identity…
Second, constitutional norms are the overarching framework within which one
pursues individual aspirations, goals and freedoms. The constitution sets
authoritative constraints upon what one may or may not do. It defines the
fundamental values that we may not trespass. So the constitution also gives one a
moral identity.
Third and finally, it may be the case that many basic political and moral values are
now shared across different constitutional traditions….
a) What is a constitution?
constitution is the document or set of documents that seeks to perform the functions that we
mentioned above.
b) How effective is a constitution?

Making a constitution effective depends upon many factors.
1. Mode of promulgation.
The most successful constitutions,
like India, South Africa and the United States, are
constitutions which were created in the aftermath of
popular national movements. Although India’s
Constitution was formally created by a Constituent
Assembly between December 1946 and November
1949, it drew upon a long history of the nationalist
movement that had a remarkable ability to take along
different sections of Indian society together. The
Constitution drew enormous legitimacy from the
fact that it was drawn up by people
who enjoyed immense public
credibility, who had the capacity
to negotiate and command the
respect of a wide cross-section of
society, and who were able to
convince the people that the
constitution was not an instrument
for the aggrandisement of their
personal power. The final
document reflected the broad
national consensus at the time.
referendum, where all the people
vote on the desirability of a
constitution. The Indian
Constitution was never subject to
such a referendum, but
nevertheless carried enormous
public authority, because it had
the consensus and backing of
leaders who were themselves
popular. Although the
Constitution itself was not
subjected to a referendum, the
people adopted it as their own by
abiding by its provisions.
Therefore, the authority of people
who enact the constitution helps
determine in part its prospects for
success.
The substantive provisions of a

constitution
It is the hallmark of a successful
constitution that it gives everyone
in society some reason to go along
with its provisions. A constitution that, for instance, allowed permanent majorities to oppress minority
groups within society would give minorities no reason to go along
with the provision of the constitution.
-----------------------------------2-----------------------------------------------
the constitution is a document that sets limits on the powers of the government
and ensures a democratic system in which all persons enjoy certain rights.
Part three of the Constitution of India lists the Fundamental
Rights and also mentions the limits on these rights. In the past fifty years, the
scope of rights has changed and in some respects, expanded.
Machal Lalung was 23 when he was arrested. Machal Lalung was released in July 2005. He was 77 then.
freed when a team appointed by the National
Human Rights Commission intervened after an inspection of
undertrials in the State. Machal’s case shows what happens when rights granted
by the Constitution are not available in practice
A
democracy must ensure that individuals have certain
rights and that the government will always recognise these
rights. Therefore it is often a practice in most democratic
countries to list the rights of the citizens in the constitution
itself. Such a list of rights mentioned and protected by
the constitution is called the ‘bill of rights’. A bill of rights
prohibits government from thus acting against the rights
of the individuals and ensures a remedy in case there is
violation of these rights.
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS IN THE INDIAN

CONSTITUTION
The Motilal Nehru committee had demanded
a bill of rights as far back as in 1928
The Constitution
listed the rights that would be
specially protected and called
them ‘fundamental rights’.
Very important: word fundamental

suggests that these rights are so
important that the Constitution
has separately listed them and
made special provisions for their
protection. The Fundamental
Rights are so important that the
Constitution itself ensures that
they are not violated by the
government.
1. While ordinary
legal rights are protected and
enforced by ordinary law,
Fundamental Rights are
protected and guaranteed by
the constitution of the country.
2. Ordinary rights may be changed

by the legislature by ordinary
process of law making, but a
fundamental right may only be
changed by amending the
Constitution itself.
judiciary has the

powers and responsibility to
protect the fundamental rights
from violations by actions of the government. Executive as well as legislative actions can be declared
illegal by the judiciary if these violate the fundamental rights or
restrict them in an unreasonable manner. However, fundamental
rights are not absolute or unlimited rights. Government can put
reasonable restrictions on the exercise of our fundamental rights.
--The South African Constitution was

inaugurated in December 1996.

The First Function of A Constitution Is To Provide A Set of Basic Rules That Allow For Minimal Coordination Amongst Members of A Society

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Constitution allows coordination and Assurance.

( group need certain basic rules.)

1. The first function of a constitution is to provide a set of basic rules that

A constitution is a body of fundamental principles according to which a state is

How should the people decide?

In the Indian Constitution for example, it is specified that in most instances,

2. The second function of a constitution is to specify who has the power to

Limitations on the powers of government.

3. third function of a constitution is to set some limits on what a

Citizens will normally have the right to some basic liberties:

Aspirations and goals of a society

Most of the older constitutions limited themselves largely to allocating decision-

Constitution of South Africa assigns many responsibilities to the government: it

Fundamental identity of a people……..

b) How effective is a constitution?

The substantive provisions of a

FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS IN THE INDIAN

Very important: word fundamental

2. Ordinary rights may be changed

judiciary has the

--The South African Constitution was

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