The Types of Constitutions are provided under the Constitution of India. The Constitution is a legal document that has special legal sanctity. The constitution is defined as a body of rules and regulations which are formed to regulate the principal functions of the organs of the Government and also provides provisions that govern the functioning of that government organs.
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| Types of Constitution |
Types of Constitution
There are 6 types of the constitution, these are;
- Written and Unwritten Constitution
- Federal and Unitary Constitution
- Flexible and Rigid Constitution
- Moanrichanl and Republican Constitution
- Presidential and Parliamentary Constitution
Let’s discuss them one by one;
1. Written and Unwritten Constitution
A written constitution is a constitution that is contained under a single document and all the provisions of the constitution are written under a single document/book.
A written constitution is rigid in nature and the written constitution can be amended when necessary.
Whereas, the unwritten constitution is the constitution that is not contained under a single document. This time of constitution is partly written and partly unwritten or in oral form.
Herein, some provisions of the constitution are written but some provisions are in the form of Common Law or Traditional Law. The Constitution of Britain is one of the best examples of an unwritten constitution.
The written constitution and unwritten constitution are similar to the codified constitution and uncodified constitution. The written constitution is systematically drafted in a good structure like a statute i.e. codified constitution, whereas the unwritten constitution is not written in a document so it is an uncodified constitution.
Advantages of Written Constitution
1. If there are any drawbacks in the constitution then it is very difficult to remove these drawbacks.
2. This type of constitution is formed and based upon knowledge and experience of many years and not based on emotions or traditions.
3. It is easy to understand the provisions relating to the protection of the rights of an individual.
4. The written constitution is a stable structure of the law.
5. This type of constitution is very useful in emergency provisions.
Disadvantages of Written Constitution
1. This type of constitution is very difficult to understand and it is too rigid.
2. Some provisions in this constitution are not fixed and they can change from time to time through amendments.
3. It can be too exhaustive.
Advantages of Unwritten Constitution
1. This type of constitution is not written and that’s why can be easily added and removed necessary legal provisions of the constitution.
2. This constitution is easy safeguards the tradition and culture of the Country.
3. The Interpretation of provisions in this constitution varies.
Disadvantages of Unwritten Constitution
1. This constitution is not written and cannot be drafted in a document, due to this the general people of the country do not aware of the provisions of the constitution.
2. The judiciary interprets the constitution in its own way.
3. It is said that the unwritten constitution is not an ideal constitution for a democratic Country.
2. Federal and Unitary Constitution
The Federal Constitution provides that the powers of the government are vested in similar bodies in which power is shared.
The Unitary Constitution provides that the powers of the government are vested to Central Body. This Central body does not share its power with other bodies but can delegate its power to subordinate bodies.
Advantages of Federal Constitution
1. In the federal system, an individual can compare political, economic and social systems in various States and can choose what is more suitable.
2. In the federal system the power is shared with different States.
3. Federal Constitution of the country tend to be a more democratic country.
4. In the federal country the laws are helpful to the cultural and economic differences across the states.
5. In a federal country, the laws are more clear and it is easy to make decisions and the people can supervise the government.
Disadvantages of Federal Constitution
1. In the federal country the economic disparities will happen in different States.
2. The federal constitution is meant for large countries and not for small countries.
Advantages of Unitary Constitution
1. In the unitary constitution, the people of the country only owe their allegiance to the central government.
2. The unitary system in the country will improve national unity.
3. In the unitary government, the decision-making is quick.
Disadvantages of the Unitary Constitution
1. In the unitary system, there is a heavy burden of work on the government.
2. The unitary government can easily turn into a dictatorship.
3. In the unitary system, the neglected area of the country from the government will be undeveloped.
3. Flexible and Rigid Constitution
A Flexible Constitution can be easily amended or changed by following simple procedures. This type of constitution can be easily amended with a simple majority of votes of the parliamentary members like any other statute.
The Rigid Constitution is a type of constitution that is not easily amended. To amend the constitution a lengthy procedure has to be followed. So, there is a different procedure that has to be followed to amend or change any provision of the flexible constitution and the procedure is much lengthy and hard than the procedure followed in amending any other statute.
Advantages of Flexible Constitution
1. The flexible constitution is easy to amend with a simple procedure.
2. This makes it easier to adapt to new laws.
3. In this, the laws are quite elastic and reduce the chances of a revolution by the people.
4. Mostly this type of constitution is seen in developed countries like the USA.
Disadvantages of Flexible Constitution
1. The nature of a flexible constitution is not fixed, it will keep on changing.
2. Due to a flexible constitution there is instability in the administration.
3. In the flexible constitution the procedure for amendment of the constitution is very easy, due to this the laws can be overly influenced by popular passion in the society.
4. This type of constitution is not suitable for a federal system.
Advantages of Rigid Constitution
1. The rigid constitution is combined of knowledge and experience of the learned people from the society.
2. The rigid constitution safeguards the rights of the people against legislative encroachment.
3. The rights given under the rigid constitution are to protect the rights of minorities through the judicial system.
Disadvantages of Rigid Constitution
1. Our society is changing day by day, then the amendments to the constitution are necessary. But in a rigid constitution, the procedure to amend the constitution is very difficult.
2. This type of constitution is unsuitable for developing countries.
3. In this type of constitution the role of the judiciary is limited to see whether the law conforms to the provisions of the constitution or not.
4. Moanrichanl and Republican Constitution
In a country that follows the monarchical constitution, the government is headed by one person i.e. King. In Monarchical Countries, the Head of the State is an Emperor, King or Queen. The best example of a Monarchical Country is the United Kingdom.
In the monarchical constitution, the government is run by the head of the state who is the King or Queen. In this system, the successor of the head of the state is his/her own child.
In a country that follows the monarchical constitution, the government is headed by a group of people i.e. Cabinet of Ministers. In Republican Constitution, the Head of the State is elected by the people of the country for a fixed period of time in office. In most countries, the head of state is known as President. The best example of a republican country is the United States of America.
5. Presidential and Parliamentary Constitution
Political and Legal Constitution is other names for the Presidential and Parliamentary Constitution respectively.
The Presidential Constitution is a type of constitution where all the executive powers are vested in the President. In those countries, the president is the head of the State and Government.
The power of the President is to maintain the constitution of the country and to apply all the laws which are made by the Parliament.
It is to understand that all the powers are vested in the President who is an individual person.
The Parliamentary Constitution is a type of constitution where all the executive powers are vested to the Prime Miniter. In those countries, the Prime Minister is the head of the State and Government.
The power of the Prime Minister is to maintain the constitution of the country and to apply all the laws which are made by the Parliament.
It is to understand that all the powers are vested in the Prime Minister and his Cabinet.
Conclusion
The types of constitution must be known to the people of the country. By reading this article you should understand what is a constitution and what are the types of constitutions. Simply, the constitution is the body of rules and regulations adopted by society to run the country.
