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Liberalism and Constitutionalism

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On what grounds have liberals defended constitutionalism?

Constitutionalism refers to the idea of a limited government achieved through the existence, either of external and usually legal checks on the power of government, notably in the form of a written constitution, and internal checks on government brought about by institutional fragmentation.

Liberals support constitutionalism because they fear that government may become a tyranny against the individual, based on the assumption that power is inherently corrupting and concentrations of power will lead to absolute corruption. This assumption is rooted in the liberal view of human nature: as individualism implies self- interest, those with power over others are apt to abuse it for their benefit and at the expense of others.

Liberals support constitutionalism as the powers of government bodies and politicians can be limited by the introduction of external and, usually, legal constraints. Written constitutions codify the major powers and responsibilities of government institutions within a single document, the first such document was written in 1787 in the US. Where a country has neither a written constitution nor bill of rights, liberals stress the importance of statute law in checking government power through the principle of the rule of law.

Another reason why liberals support constitutionalism is because it can be established by the introduction of internal constraints which are effective in dispersing political power among a number of institutions and create a system of checks and balances. In the 18th century, French political philosopher Motesquieu stated that “power should be a check to power”. Internal fragmentation can be achieved by applying the doctrine of the separation of

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