Constitutionalism: A Theory and Practice

Abstract

It is often argued that the theory and practice of constitutionalism is a key element to democratization and good governance to many countries of the world. In some cases, constitutionalism ought not to be driven from the perspectives of the party ideology in power or on basis of the ideals of those presiding over state powers and functions. From the above argument, it can be contested that enacting good laws is a fundamental aspect to sustain the theory and practice of constitutionalism. Experience has shown that constitutionalism in Africa is a subject of manipulation by those in power to safeguard their long stay in office. Ideally, a good constitution is premise for development as it entails the protection of the Bill of Rights of all citizens regardless of their social, political and economic status in the society. This is part of good public policy which any government should strive to enhance and must be evident in its actions. A fragile constitution has been a recipe for anarchy and civil strife in many countries as leaders find it easy to manipulate the government machinery. In short, it is the people who should always be the driving force behind any constitutionalism in order to ensure legitimacy in the governance process. Reasonably, one cannot dismiss the claims that constitutionalism should draw strength from the citizenry but this is not what often happens in most nations. On the contrary, proponents of constitutionalism argue that democracy is the safest way to sustain the theory and practice of constitutionalism. In many developing countries, the expectation of the citizenry is that the political leaders will desire to respect the provisions of the constitution but to the contrary most governments disregard their own constitutions in many ways.This shows that there is tendency by most governments not to respect the will of people in line with the constitution, and what is evident is that the political power always fails the majority of the people. This has defeated the whole essence of the theory and practice towards constitutionalism as an important yardstick to the process of legitimacy and rule of law in most emerging democracies especially in Africa, Asia and Latin America.