Many organisations have a written constitution. A constitution defines the core aims of the organisation, the rights and responsibilities of its members and the powers and responsibilities of its governing bodies.

aims & methods

governing body

The Boys' Brigade constitution does exactly this and can only be changed by a two thirds majority at Brigade Council, the Brigade's supreme governing body, at which each company has a vote.  Why do you think that it is made more difficult to change the constitution than a simple 50% majority?

The constitution of  a country follows the same principle as one for any organisation. There are two types of constitution

• unwritten


• written

This means that the British constitution has been easily able to cope with governing England or the United Kingdom or the British Empire, and can easily evolve to match the needs of the future.

The US constitution has on the whole served the United States very well. However to change the constitution requires a two thirds majority in Congress and a three quarters majority of the individual States. This makes it difficult to make changes to the constitution, for instance states with large populations or a number of smaller states can block changes.

An example of where this is a problem is in the area of gun control. The individual states protect jealously their right to raise militia which means the citizens have the right to keep guns at home. In fact there are more guns per head of population in the USA than anywhere else. Unfortunately the USA also has the highest murder rate and some feel that it would be better if there were far fewer guns in society but unlike in Britain, where a law was recently passed by Parliament banning all but a very few guns for farmers etc. by a simple majority, it would be very difficult to ban guns in the USA. The recent shootings by children in schools has made some Americans to rethink.

Federations

There are a number of federal countries such as the USA, Canada, Australia, Germany. The constitution is vital to a federation of states which defines the powers of the federal government versus the state government. Some famous instances where the constitution has been very important are

• The American Civil War (1861-1865) arose from some states of the original US federation (or Union) disagreeing about the powers that should be allowed to the federal government. These states left the federation and formed a confederation (The Confederacy). The original constitution lead to a war which claimed many lives.


• Canada is a confederation of 10 provinces and 3 territories. The constitution is required to balance the power of central government versus the power of the provinces. In particular Quebec is the only French speaking province  and many in Quebec look to the constitution to give it the freedom to keep its distinctive culture within a largely English speaking Canada and indeed North America.


• The individual British colonies of Australia could only agree on a constitution under which to form the federal Commonwealth of Australia  as late as 1901, as there was much rivalry between states. Canada has united some 50 years earlier.


• Germany is a federation of the various states or Länder. The constitution for West Germany was carefully crafted after the Second World War so that the states of old East Germany would be able to join if the possibility arose. Although this seemed a remote possibility during the "Cold War" Germany is today again one country.

In England and Scotland 1000 years ago the monarch was all powerful and over the centuries laws, agreements and customs have arisen to limit the power of the Crown. However ultimately the Crown is today the keeper of the constitution, the only continuing power which ensures that the power of the politicians is regulated. Politicians only hold their power through the Crown, not in their own right, thus providing the necessary checks and balances required for a stable society.
This is the key role of the monarchy  today. Whether the constitution is written down or custom and law the constitution is only as good as the respect that powerful people in  the land have for it.