Constitution

Constitution of the Year XII (First French Republic)
Constitution of the Kingdom of Naples in 1848.
Detail from Hammurabi's stele shows him receiving the laws of Babylon from the seated sun deity.
Diagram illustrating the classification of constitutions by Aristotle.
Third volume of the compilation of Catalan Constitutions of 1585
The Cossack Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk, 1710.
A painting depicting George Washington at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 signing of the U.S. Constitution
Constitution of May 3, 1791 (painting by Jan Matejko, 1891). Polish King Stanisław August (left, in regal ermine-trimmed cloak), enters St. John's Cathedral, where Sejm deputies will swear to uphold the new Constitution; in background, Warsaw's Royal Castle, where the Constitution has just been adopted.
Presidential copy of the Russian Constitution.
Magna Carta
United States Constitution

Aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.

- Constitution
Constitution of the Year XII (First French Republic)

83 related topics

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World administrative levels

Presidential system

Form of government in which a head of government, typically with the title of president, leads an executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch in systems that use separation of powers.

Form of government in which a head of government, typically with the title of president, leads an executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch in systems that use separation of powers.

World administrative levels

These countries modeled their constitutions after that of the United States, and the presidential system became the dominant political system in the Americas.

Euler diagram showing A is a subset of B, A⊆B, and conversely B is a superset of A.

Supermajority

Requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority.

Requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority.

Euler diagram showing A is a subset of B, A⊆B, and conversely B is a superset of A.

Changes to constitutions, especially those with entrenched clauses, commonly require supermajority support in a legislature.

Constitution of the Year XII (First French Republic)

Constitutional amendment

Constitution of the Year XII (First French Republic)

A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity.

Brazil

Largest country in both South America and Latin America.

Largest country in both South America and Latin America.

Depiction of Pedro Álvares Cabral landing in Porto Seguro in 1500, ushering in more than 300 years of Portuguese rule of Colonial Brazil.
Painting showing the arrest of Tiradentes; he was sentenced to death for his involvement in the best known movement for independence in Colonial Brazil. Painting of 1914.
The Acclamation of King João VI of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves in Rio de Janeiro, 6 February 1818
Declaration of the Brazilian independence by Prince Pedro (later Emperor Pedro I) on 7 September 1822.
Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil between 1831 and 1889.
Soldiers of the FEB, the only Latin American military force in World War II, in Massarosa, Italy, 1944.
Ulysses Guimarães holding the Constitution of 1988 in his hands
Coin of 1 real commemorating 25 years of Real Plan, which brought stability to the Brazilian economy after years of hyperinflation.
Topographic map of Brazil
Rock formations and the Dedo de Deus (God's Finger) peak in the background, Serra dos Órgãos National Park, Rio de Janeiro state
Brazil map of Köppen climate classification zones
Female pantanal jaguar in Piquirí River, Mato Grosso. Pantanal is the world's largest tropical wetland area.
The Amazon rainforest, the most biodiverse rainforest in the world
Palácio do Planalto, the official workplace of the President of Brazil.
National Congress, seat of the legislative branch.
Supreme Federal Court of Brazil serves primarily as the Constitutional Court of the country
Itamaraty Palace, the seat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Field agents of the Federal Police's Tactical Operations Command.
A proportional representation of Brazil exports, 2019
SUS official symbol, the Brazilian publicly funded health care system
Historical building of the Federal University of Paraná, one of the oldest universities in Brazil, located in Curitiba.
Former President Dilma Rousseff at Jornal Nacional news program. Rede Globo is the world's second-largest commercial television network.
Population density of Brazilian municipalities
Immigration Museum of the State of São Paulo in the neighborhood of Mooca, in São Paulo city. The Italian Brazilians are 15% of the population and the largest Italian community outside Italy.
The Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro is one of the most famous religious statues worldwide
Museum of the Portuguese Language in São Paulo city, São Paulo.
Ocas of the Kuikuro people, Xingu Indigenous Park, Mato Grosso
Pomerode, Santa Catarina, is one of the municipalities with a cooficial language. In this region, Hunsrückisch and East Pomeranian, German dialects, are two of the minor languages (see Brazilian German).
Parade of Portela samba school at the Rio Carnival, the largest carnival in the world
Tom Jobim, one of the creators of bossa nova, and Chico Buarque, one of the leading names of MPB.
Machado de Assis, poet and novelist, founder of the Brazilian Academy of Letters.
Festival de Gramado, the biggest film festival in the country
São Paulo Municipal Theater, significant both for its architectural value as well as for its historical importance.
Candido Portinari in 1962, one of the most important Brazilian painters
Players at the podium with the first Olympic Gold of the Brazil national football team, won in the 2016 Summer Olympics. Football is the most popular sport in the country.
Brazil's tropical primary (old-growth) forest loss greatly exceeds that of other countries (compare rectangular areas), though its percentage loss is about the median among the ten countries with the greatest loss.
Palácio do Planalto, the official workplace of the President of Brazil.
The Cathedral of Brasilia, designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer for the federal capital, an example of Modern architecture
Feijoada is one of the main dishes of Brazilian cuisine
Augusto Boal presenting a workshop on the Theatre of the Oppressed at Riverside Church in New York City in 2008

The Federal Constitution and the Law of Guidelines and Bases of National Education determine that the Union, the states, the Federal District, and the municipalities must manage and organize their respective education systems.

Richard I of England being anointed during his coronation in Westminster Abbey, from a 13th-century chronicle.

Monarchy

Form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication.

Form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication.

Richard I of England being anointed during his coronation in Westminster Abbey, from a 13th-century chronicle.
The Weld-Blundell Prism, inscribed with the Sumerian King List
Map of monarchies and republics in 1648
King George III of the United Kingdom, Portrait by Allan Ramsay, 1762.
King Salman of Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarch.
Postcard of ruling monarchs, taken in 1909 between February (accession of King Manuel II of Portugal) and November (death of Guangxu Emperor)
Tewodros II, Emperor of Ethiopia.
King Leopold I, an elected founder of the hereditary monarchy of Belgium
Pope Francis, Sovereign of the Vatican City State

In a constitutional monarchy, the monarch's power is subject to a constitution. In most current constitutional monarchies, the monarch is mainly a ceremonial figurehead symbol of national unity and state continuity. Although nominally sovereign, the electorate (through the legislature) exercises political sovereignty. Constitutional monarchs' political power is limited. Typical monarchical powers include granting pardons, granting honours, and reserve powers, e.g. to dismiss the prime minister, refuse to dissolve parliament, or veto legislation ("withhold Royal Assent"). They often also have privileges of inviolability and sovereign immunity. A monarch's powers and influence will depend on tradition, precedent, popular opinion, and law.

The frontispiece of Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan

State (polity)

Centralized political organization that imposes and enforces rules over a population within a territory.

Centralized political organization that imposes and enforces rules over a population within a territory.

The frontispiece of Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan
Painting of Roman Senators encircling Julius Caesar
IWW poster "Pyramid of Capitalist System" (c. 1911), depicting an anti-capitalist perspective on statist/capitalist social structures

A federated state is a territorial and constitutional community forming part of a federation.

United Kingdom

Sovereign country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland.

Sovereign country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland.

Stonehenge in Wiltshire is a ring of stones, each about 13 ft high, 7 ft wide and 25 tonnes, erected 2400–2200 BC.
The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the Battle of Hastings, 1066, and the events leading to it.
The Treaty of Union led to a united kingdom of all of Great Britain.
At the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, a British-led coalition under the Duke of Wellington, supported by von Blücher's Prussian army, defeated the French, ending the Napoleonic Wars.
Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme. More than 885,000 British soldiers died on the battlefields of the First World War.
Territories once part of the British Empire, with the United Kingdom and its current Overseas Dependencies and Crown Dependencies underlined in red
Leaders of EU states in 2007. The UK entered the EEC in 1973. In a 1975 referendum 67% voted to stay in it; in 2016 52% voted to leave the EU.
The United Kingdom showing hilly regions to north and west
Köppen climate types of the UK
The Palace of Westminster, seat of both houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Organisational chart of the UK political system
The Scottish Parliament Building in Holyrood is the seat of the Scottish Parliament.
The British-Irish Council comprises the UK Government, the Irish Government and the governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Royal Courts of Justice of England and Wales
The High Court of Justiciary, the supreme criminal court of Scotland
and, a pair of Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy
British soldier firing during an exercise.
The Bank of England, the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based
The Mini Electric is manufactured in the UK.
Engines and wings for the Airbus A380 are manufactured in the UK.
A Watt steam engine, which was fundamental in driving the Industrial Revolution
London St Pancras International is one of London's main domestic and international transport hubs, providing commuter and high-speed rail services across the UK and to Paris, Lille and Brussels.
Energy mix of the United Kingdom over time
Wind turbines overlooking Ardrossan, Scotland. The UK is one of the best sites in Europe for wind energy, and wind power production is its fastest-growing supply.
Map of population density in the UK as at the 2011 census
Percentage of the population not white according to the 2011 census
Westminster Abbey
Estimated foreign-born population by country of birth from April 2007 to March 2008
Estimated number of British citizens living overseas by country in 2006
Christ Church, Oxford, is part of the University of Oxford, which traces its foundations back to c. 1096.
King's College (right) and Clare College (left), both part of the University of Cambridge, which was founded in 1209
The Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital, an NHS Scotland specialist children's hospital
The Chandos portrait, believed to depict William Shakespeare
A photograph of Victorian-era novelist Charles Dickens
Elgar aged about 60
The Beatles are the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed band in popular music, selling over a billion records.
J. M. W. Turner self-portrait, oil on canvas, c. 1799
Alfred Hitchcock has been ranked as one of the greatest and most influential British filmmakers of all time.
The Art Deco facade of Broadcasting House in London, headquarters of the BBC, the oldest and largest broadcaster in the world
Wembley Stadium, London, home of the England national football team, is the fifth most expensive stadium ever built.
The Millennium Stadium of Cardiff opened for the 1999 Rugby World Cup.
Wimbledon, the oldest Grand Slam tennis tournament, is held in Wimbledon, London every June and July.
St Andrews, Scotland, the home of golf. The standard 18 hole golf course was created at St Andrews in 1764.
The Statue of Britannia in Plymouth. Britannia is a national personification of the UK.

The UK does not have a codified constitution and constitutional matters are not among the powers devolved to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Portrait by an anonymous artist, 1753–1794

Montesquieu

French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher.

French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher.

Portrait by an anonymous artist, 1753–1794
Château de la Brède
Montesquieu's 1748 [[:File:Montesquieu, De l'Esprit des loix (1st ed, 1748, vol 1).pdf|De l'Esprit des loix]]
Lettres familières à divers amis d'Italie, 1767

He is the principal source of the theory of separation of powers, which is implemented in many constitutions throughout the world.

Suffrage universel dédié à Ledru-Rollin, Frédéric Sorrieu, 1850

Suffrage

Right to vote in public, political elections and referendums .

Right to vote in public, political elections and referendums .

Suffrage universel dédié à Ledru-Rollin, Frédéric Sorrieu, 1850
The Peterloo Massacre of 1819
German election poster from 1919: Equal rights – equal duties!
A British postcard against women's suffrage postcard from c.1908. It shows unflattering caricatures of suffragettes in front of parliament and the caption: 'This is the house that man built' with a poem. From the People's History Museum, Manchester.
Women's Suffrage Headquarters on Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio in 1912
Demonstration for universal right to vote, Prague, Austria-Hungary, 1905
Countries with universal suffrage granted to women, 2017
The Chartists' National Convention at the British Coffee House in February 1839

1809 – New constitution adopted and separation of powers outlined in the Instrument of Government.

Constitution of India

Supreme law of India.

Supreme law of India.

B. R. Ambedkar and Constitution of India on a 2015 postage stamp of India
Babasaheb Ambedkar, chairman of the drafting committee, presenting the final draft of the Indian constitution to Constituent Assembly president Rajendra Prasad on 25 November 1949
1950 Constituent Assembly meeting
Jawaharlal Nehru signing the constitution

It has features of a federation, including a codified, supreme constitution; a three-tier governmental structure (central, state and local); division of powers; bicameralism; and an independent judiciary.