Democracy and constitutionalism relate to each other. A country’s system of governance, which may be termed as democratic, should carry in its constitution the empowerment to reflect the freedom of the people to choose, as well as other issues, the rule of law, and the limit to which power of the state must be used and shared. In a democratic regime, it is believed-according to the democratic theory-that special forms of decision making, representation, and citizenship self-reinforce end up being “interrelated” (qtd in Larry 2008). Thus for a regime to be considered democratic, it must intertwine these three together in a special way. Representation, for example, should reflect the opinions of all the people or a majority of them in an attempt to carry out the decisions that have been made. According to Daniel (142-172; and in Larry 2008), democracy may take the definition of an “institutionalized argument” on what community, equality and liberty properly mean and their importance. The heart of democracy is said to consist of debates on legislation, elections, and partisan competition.
Constitutionalism refers to having a government that is limited and to dividing and restraining the state power. Democracy implies the exercising of the state’s power in a potentially unlimited way. Where democracy is achieved by the majority, the judicial, and executive and the legislative arms of the government are controlled by these majorities (Spitz 1984; and in Liiphat 1991, 485). A democratic system should achieve values of fairness, transparency, accountability, even when certain institutions are entrusted with certain powers in that government where these institutions are not directly answerable to the voters.
It is necessary to understand that a government may delegate duties and thus powers to an agency or an institution that is politically independent so as to ensure credibility in committing to policies of the regulation (Majone Giandomenico). Delegation of such duties should, however, be governed by a constitutional framework to ensure that the special interests of individuals are completely eliminated from the representation in these institutions. Excessive “one-man rule” witnessed in the ancient forms of governance should be avoided. The people involved in choosing such individuals should be outlined in the constitution and mechanisms put in place in that constitution to check the powers of such agencies or institutions.
Democracy is necessary for the economic, political, and social development of any nation. Representative democracy would be stabilized by the participants being involved in an ethical and responsible manner, and this must be ensured by the constitutional order. The constitutional order should govern and allow for freedom of expression and participation of all citizens in social-cultural, political, economic, and religious activities, and such should be carried out in an ethical manner with regard to the general public. The rights of individuals to engaging in these activities must not infringe the rights of other people. Infringement of such rights must be constitutionally punishable. For example, any person who may think that their human rights have been violated would present his claims to the inter-American system according to the Inter-American Democratic Charter (Article 8, 2005). The constitutional framework must also ensure that the exercise of power is according to the rule of law and punishment for the offenders. It must ensure that in a liberal democratic society, political decision-making is de-linked from direct political influence by groups or individuals, and thus political decision-making should not follow the rule of the majority all the time. A design for a constitution should ensure proper processes of representations for particular purposes. Courts, Special and independent agencies and executives, enactments to ensure there is power separation, and even institutions like the central banks are a creation of the constitution since the leaders elected by a majority may not necessarily function while under direct accountability to the masses. Thus it is necessary that there is a constitutional process that is de-linked from the political influence so as to ensure that it will check the activities of the political leaders themselves (Moravcsik). It is worth noting that in most developing or underdeveloped nations, the processes of amending constitutions are more often influenced by politicians. Indeed, weak constitutions governing these countries render it difficult to giving the citizens freedom from exploitation and oppression from the leaders they elect, who happen to be the lawmakers. It is in this argument that it is necessary to de-link the process of constitution-making from the politicians. It may, for example, be entrusted to a team of experts.
The following constitutes the political institutions and processes required to be adhered to in a democratic system that has been followed over time (‘Defining Democracy’).
- Electoral representation: Since all people cannot participate in the activities for developing a society, a few would be required to formulate policies and procedures and govern the society. This has been in use from ancient forms of governance and current forms.
- Elections that are free and fair: Voters should be allowed to vote for the people they wish without interruptions.
- Multipart: This is necessary to give an option or a range of options for the voter to elect appropriate leaders.
- Tolerance and flexibility: Different political views and opinions should be allowed from different people through tolerance, and all people should be willing to let go of their interests to accept other better ones or at least by a majority.
- Freedom of expression, movement or organization, access to government information, and evaluation.
- Accountability of elected and empowered officials to the citizens according to the law and carrying out of duties.
It is necessary to note that it is not only the developing or the underdeveloped nations where people are struggling to ensure sharing of power of the state among institutions of governance, but also, in the developed countries, there is a need to keep the system moving and strengthened. Thus Constitutionalism and democratization are progressive. The constitution in a democratic country must ensure that the powers are not concentrated to one position, for example, the presidency, but that it is shared among various institutions of the legislative, judicial, and executive arms. The concentration of power on one position was common in the former stages of any developed country, but with the evolution of democracy, things have moved to make sure that the powers of the individuals holding the positions of power concentration are checked, for example, by means of a parliamentary system that is powerful to share the powers of the elected president. While the president may be elected by a majority in the presidential system put in place in many countries, the president is also accountable to the parliament through stipulated means. For example, the president can be ousted by means of the vote of no confidence. In some countries, the president is not left out to exercise all the powers of the executive, but a prime minister may be more powerful in a parliamentary system. In some cases, there are mixed systems where the power is shared between the executive and legislative arms of governance. It is sometimes hard, however, to ensure state power is shared among all institutions of government in underdeveloped or developing nations. This may be attributed to the fact that their democracies are still young or even evolving. In most of them, there is no political will among the leaders to ensure that this is achieved since the top-most may still want to continue enjoying power-and excessive power, for that matter. Democracy may take a longer time to be achieved, and there is a trend showing that it is a process rather than an instant occurrence. A country may have to go through many phases of non-democracy before finally beginning to realize it.
The constitution is meant to outline the legality of the government and is the “trust” in which the power of a government is contained in words (Hamilton). It must show the source and the limit of such a government. There have been historical struggles to ensuring that the people’s “consent,” freedom, rights, and privileges are embedded and recognized in constitutions (Descriptive use of Constitutionalism) (Leonard, 473). Development in the US Constitutionalism has been indicated as leading to the formation of the federal constitution and the citizen’s experience of it since 1789 (see the references). Currently, the state and federal constitutions in the US are assumed to carry people’s sovereignty ideas or principles. Over some time, there have been struggles to ensure people’s representative governance, which has led to the federal constitution in the US. In the UK-which does not have a written constitution, struggle for power between the country’s parliament and the king gave a clear definition of the “power countervailing” concept (Gordon, 226, 223-283, 327-357). This has led to the condition where the powers of the state are countered by several governmental and private institutions (Bagehot, 1867).
In conclusion, democracy and Constitutionalism are related to one another. Both have assisted one another in evolving. A good constitution carries in it the freedom and sovereignty of the people, which has evolved over time, and people have historically struggled to make sure that their rights and freedom are recognized by the constitutions-and makes sure that the exercise of power by the government is not only provided for but also guided and directed. Structures of governance have evolved from simple forms of “one-man rule” to the sharing of power among institutions like the legislature, judiciary, and executive. Current democratic systems or those systems towards democratization of governance entail structures where there is sharing of powers within the institutions of the government, unlike ancient forms where power was concentrated (or tended to be) on one institution. There is still continued struggle in the developing or underdeveloped nations to ensure that power of the state is shared amongst institutions of governance, while there is a need to keep this system strong and maintained in the developed world. Therefore, democracy can be termed as growing.
References
Bagehot, Walter.. The English Constitution. Chapman and Hall, 1867.pp.348.
Dewiel Boris. Democracy: A History of Ideas. Vancouver, BC: UBC Press, 2000.pp.142-172,
Defining Democracy Part 3 of 10: Elements of Democracy. 2008. Web.
For the assumptions by historians, political scientists, and lawyers that have contributed to a view of Constitutionalism essentially connected and confined to the U.S. Constitution, see Christian G. Fritz, Fallacies of American Constitutionalism. 35 Rutgers Law Journal (2004), 1327-69. See also, Christian G. Fritz, American Sovereigns: The People and America’s Constitutional Tradition Before the Civil War. Cambridge University Press, 2008. pp. 284 (“Invariably, the state constitutional tradition is deemed less authentic because of its departure from the federal model. This has led to the assumption that one need only study the federal Constitution to discover what American Constitutionalism was then and is today.”)
Gordon, Scott. Controlling the State: Constitutionalism from Ancient Athens to Today. Harvard University Press, 1999. 5, pp.226, 223-283, 327-357.
Inter-American Democratic Charter. Democratic Dialogues. Department of State’s Bureau of International Information Programs. US. 2005. Web.
Larry C. Law at the End of the Day: Democracy Part XV: In Which Elections Serve as a prelude to Carving Power in Democratic States. 2008. Web.
Leonard Levy, ed., Encyclopedia of the American Constitution, (Gerhard Casper, “Constitutionalism”), 1986. vol. 2, pp. 473, 473.
Liiphart, Arend. Majority Rule in Theory and in Practice: The Tenacity of a Flawed Paradigm. 1991. International Social Science Journal 29: pp.483-494.
Moravcsik, Andrew & Majone G. Democracy and Constitutionalism in the European Union. Written especially for ECSA Review (13: 2), Spring 2000, pp. 2-7. European Union Studies Association. University of Pittsburgh, USA.
Walton H. Hamilton, Constitutionalism. In Edwin R.A. Seligman et al. (eds) Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. New York: Macmillan 1931.pp. 255.