What is a constitution and why is it important?

A constitution is a set of rules that govern the country: citizens and the government. It determines how political power should be distributed within the states. For example, federal settlements divides the power between central governments and regional institutions, such as America, and unitary States have power in one place, such as the United Kingdom. They also determine the balance of power between government and parliament, president and prime minister, or between the chambers in the bicameral system: the two Houses of Parliament. 

Constitutions establish the political processes that make the system work and establishes the relationship between political institutions. They also have to be amended as changes occur through time. Therefore it is essential that a constitution contains the rules for its own constitution to be able to amend it. For example, the UK is unusual in regards to amendment, because its constitution changes in two ways: through parliamentary statute and through the evolution of unwritten rules, called conventions. Ireland and France are also different because they use referendums to approve change. 

They also give rights to citizens (civil liberties) against the state, such as in the form of a Bill of Rights, which is a statement that prevents a government from 'stamping on citizens', or by establishing rules in regards to nationality. This is important because it protects the people from the government and prevents dictatorship. 

Constitutions are the most important things in politics as without them, the government could do what it wanted, such as oppressing minorities and violating people's freedom. Citizens cannot trust the government and anyone who has power, because having too much power could lead to corruption.  Having a constitution not only prevents dictatorship, it limits the power of the government, which means that the government are also being controlled. However, in Britain there are no limits placed on Parliament, as it is sovereign. Therefore it has the legal right to do what it likes, whereas the U.S. constitution sets the rules that the government needs to abide by. 

Codification is the process of setting out a constitution in an organised way, which is in a single document. Codified constitutions are constitutions that are organised or written in a single document which is the only source of constitutional rules. Whereas an uncodified constitution has several different sources and has no single document. 

An example of a codified constitution is the US constitution, set up in September 1787, under the Independent 13 former British colonies. This constitution establishes America's national government and fundamental laws, and guarantees certain rights for its citizens. Another example of a codified constitution is the constitution of Norway which was established in 1814, when they were free from Danish rule. The French constitution is another codified constitution which was established in 1958, which happened after a coup d'état, when the new president named Charles de Gualle took over. The most recent codified constitution is of Iraq, established in 2005 following the removal of Saddam Hussein's regime.