Constitution

A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is. When these principles are written down into a single collection or set of legal documents, those documents may be said to comprise a written constitution.

Constitutions concern different levels of organizations, from sovereign states to companies and unincorporated associations. A treaty which establishes an international organization is also its constitution, in that it would define how that organization is constituted. Within states, whether sovereign or federated, a constitution defines the principles upon which the state is based, the procedure in which laws are made and by whom. Some constitutions, especially written constitutions, also act as limiters of state power, by establishing lines which a state's rulers cannot cross, such as fundamental rights.

The Constitution of India is the longest written constitution of any sovereign country in the world, containing 448 articles, 12 schedules and 100 amendments, with 117,369 words in its English language version, while the United States Constitution is the shortest written constitution, at 7 articles and 27 amendments.

Read more about Constitution:  Etymology, General Features, Principles of Constitutional Design, Governmental Constitutions, Constitutional Courts

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Constitution Of The Philippines
... The Constitution of the Philippines (Filipino Saligang Batas ng Pilipinas) is the supreme law of the Philippines ... The Constitution currently in effect was enacted in 1987, during the administration of President Corazon C ... Aquino, and is popularly known as the "1987 Constitution" ...
Constitution Of The Philippines - Historical Constitutions - Malolos Constitution (1899)
... Wikisource has original text related to this article Constitution of the Philippines (1899) The Malolos Constitution was the first republican constitution in Asia ...
Constitution Of The Philippines - Historical Constitutions - "Freedom Constitution" (1986)
3 Provisional Constitution of the Philippines (1986) Following the EDSA People Power Revolution that removed President Ferdinand E. 3 as a provisional constitution ... It adopted certain provisions from the 1973 constitution and granted the President broad powers to reorganise the government and remove officials from office, and mandated that the ...
Constitutional Courts
... Further information Constitutional court and Constitutionality Constitutions are often, but by no means always, protected by a legal body whose job it is to interpret those constitutions and ... act that is judged by a constitutional court to be contrary to the constitution, that is, unconstitutional ... who acts outside the powers granted to that office by a constitution ...
Constitution Of The Philippines - Background of The 1987 Constitution
... implement the reforms mandated by the people, protecting their basic rights, adopting a provisional constitution, and providing for an orderly transition to a government under ... Constitutional Commission (popularly abbreviated "Con Com" in the Philippines) to frame a new constitution to replace the 1973 Constitution which took effect during ... military bases, and the integration of economic policies into the Constitution ...

Famous quotes containing the word constitution:

    If the average citizen is guaranteed equal opportunity in the polling place, he must have equal opportunity in the market place.... The flag and the Constitution stand for democracy and not tyranny, for freedom, not subjection.
    Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)

    The Constitution and the laws are supreme and the Union indissoluble.
    Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)

    Man with all his noble qualities, with sympathy which feels for the most debased, with benevolence which extends not only to other men but to the humblest living creature, with his god-like intellect which has penetrated into the movements and constitution of the solar system—with all these exalted powers—man still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.
    Charles Darwin (1809–1882)