written constitution
Documented governing framework
A written constitution is a formal document that establishes the fundamental principles, structure, and limits of a government.
Most nations have one—the United States Constitution being a famous example.
The term often arises in contrast to unwritten constitutions like Britain's, which rely on accumulated statutes, conventions, and precedents rather than a single authoritative text.
- charterFounding organizational document
- We the PeopleOpening of the Constitution
- amendmentChange to official text
- preamblePreliminary statement before content
- founding documentEstablishing text of origin
ratification · founding fathers · framers · articles · bill of rights · sovereignty · supreme law · rule of law · document · convention · delegates · Philadelphia · parchment · ink · signatures · judiciary · separation of powers · checks and balances
- constitutionsbill of rights, clause, clauses, preamble, provisions
- legal codescode, codes, statute, statutes, law code
- civil lawproperty disputes, Napoleonic Code, litigation, damage claims, codification
written constitutionunwritten constitution
Governance by convention, not document
British constitution · constitutional conventions · constitutional convention · historical precedent
written constitutionabsolute monarchy
Unrestricted single-ruler government
despotism · autocracy · tyranny · rule by decree · lawlessness
written, constitution, write, writes, writing, rewrite, rewritten, underwrite, underwritten