TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction
Definitions
Classification of Constitution
Types of Constitution with Features Merits
and Demerits
Conclusion
References

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 INTRODUCTION
For a state to be properly governed there are terms or phenomenon
that are needed for a sustainable government and these terms led to
the creation of constitution. Below are some critical looks into the
definition of constitution.

DEFINITIONS
Oxford advanced learners dictionary of the 7th edition defined
constitution as the system of laws and basic principles that a state, a
country or an organisation is been governed.

A constitution can be defined as the body of agreed rules and

principles stating how the powers of governing a country are given
and how these powers are to be exercised. (Essentials of Government
for Senior Secondary Schools by C.C. Dibie Pg. 36).

Furthermore, comprehensive government for Senior Secondary

School defined constitution as the whole body of fundamental laws,
customs, conventions, principles, rules and regulations according to
which a particular government of a country or an organisation
operates.

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 CLASSIFICATION OF CONSTITUTION
By written Written and unwritten
By amendment Flexible and rigid
By government system Federal, unitary and confederal

It is important to note that constitution as defined above has various

types, features with their merit and demerits.

TYPES OF CONSTITUTION
i. Written constitution
ii. Unwritten constitution
iii.Flexible constitution
iv.Rigid constitution
v. Unitary constitution
vi.Federal constitution
vii. Confederal constitution

As a student of political science, constitution can be defined as a laid

down rules and regulations of which the affairs of a state is governed.
It creates a relationship between the three tiers of government that is
the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. The judiciary in this
aspect is empowered the responsibility to ensuring that the
constitution of a country is properly adhered to.

i. WRITTEN CONSTITUTION:
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 A written constitution refers to when the whole body of
fundamental laws, customs, conventions, principles, rules and
regulations according to which a particular government of a
country operates her documented down. This implies that a written
constitution can only be found in a single document. Countries like
U.S.A., Nigeria, France Ghana, Gambia etc practices this form of
constitution.

FEATURES OF WRITTEN CONSTITUTION

i. It is written or documented down in a single document
ii. A written constitution is rigid in nature
iii. It has an introduction which expresses the essence of the
constitution

MERITS OF WRITTEN CONSTITUTION

i. A written constitution can be obtained and consulted as a single
document
ii. Both lawyers and layman can get hold of it and read it in order
to know their rights and duties
iii.Since it is a single document, the method of acquiring powers is
clearly stated. This makes for political stability
iv.It helps in measuring and assessing the performance of
government as the principle governing their operations is
written down

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 v. It reduces the rate of dispute among organs of government since
their functions are clearly written in the constitution
vi.It helps to reduce or remove the dictatorial tendencies of the
rulers since their actions are compared with the power
allocated to them by the constitution.

DEMERITS OF WRITTEN CONSTITUTION

i. Most written constitution are rigid and therefore, they create
problem of amendment.
ii. Written constitution can cause frequent conflict among the three
arms of government especially if their functions are not
properly defined
iii.Unless a written constitution is frequently amended, it will not
meet both the present and future needs.
iv.It may lead to constant disaffection if it does not favour some
sections of the country
v. Written constitution does not fit all types of government e.g.
Unitary system of government
vi.The process of amendment can take a very long time and this
may discourage necessary reforms.

UNWRITTEN CONSTITUTION
This is a form of constitution in which the whole body of fundamental
laws, customs, conventions, principles, rules and regulations

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according to which a particular government of a country operates are
not written down or codified in a single document. It is a direct
opposite of written constitution. Britain, New Zealand are good
examples of countries that have unwritten constitution.
However, Britain have left the different parts of their constitution
without attempting to bring them together to complete them or to
make them a consistent or coherent whole. For example, the magna
carta act of 1215, reform act of 1832, and the bill of rights of 1689.

MERITS OF UNWRITTEN CONSTITUTION

i. An unwritten constitution does not pose problem of amendment
ii. It makes for easy and quick decision
iii.It meets both the present and future needs of the country
iv.For the fact that the constitution is not codified in one document,
it eliminates many areas of disputes
v. An unwritten constitution has an advantage of having high
degree of flexibility which can easily adopt to a countries’
changing social, political and economic stability
vi.It does not pose problems of difficulty in interpreting the
provision since it is not rigid.

DEMERITS OF UNWRITTEN CONSTITUTION

i. It does not create room for individuals to know their duties and
rights effectively
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 ii. Unwritten constitution can encourage dictatorship
iii.It encourages violation of citizens rights
iv. An unwritten constitution does not have checks and balances
which are usually enriched in written constitution.
v. It does not ensure stability especially in big countries
vi.It is prone to abuse by the government an individual’s since the
laws are not written or codified in one document

FLEXIBLE CONSTITUTION
This is a form of constitution which can be amended or changed
easily without stringent and cumbersome procedures. Flexible
constitution can be amended with the same procedures used in
making ordinary laws. It requires simple majority for a flexible
constitution to be amended. Britain, Italy, New Zealand, Ghana
(Independence Constitution of 1957) etc are examples of countries
that have flexible constitution.

MERITS OF FLEXIBLE CONSTITUTION

i. A flexible constitution is easy to amend
ii. It is flexible and allows for quick action to be taken in time of
emergency
iii.Its amendment is not expensive, time and energy consuming
iv. A flexible constitution sails the changing social, political and
economic situation of the country

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 v. It does encourage revolution of civil war since its flexibility
does not make for a violent change or amendment.
vi.The customs and values of people are easily included in the
flexible constitution; this makes it more appealing to the
peoples feeling.

DEMERITS OF A FLEXIBLE CONSTITUTION

i. A flexible constitution can be amended in a hasty and
thoughtless manner because it is easy to amend.
ii. It encourages dictatorship because leaders with dictatorial
propensities can easily amend it to suit their dictatorial
caprices
iii.A flexible constitution is developed by constitution ambiguities
iv.A flexible constitution does not suit a federal system of
government where there is division of power among
different units
v. It does not adequately protect the interest of the minority group
in a multi-ethnic state like Nigeria.

RIGID CONSTITUTION
The rigid constitutions are constitutions which is very difficult to
amend or change. The procedure for the amendment of a rigid
constitution is different from the process for making ordinary laws.
Rigid constitution is normally written constitution but not all written

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constitution is normally rigid. The United States of America, Canada,
France and Australia have rigid constitution.

MERITS OF RIGID CONSTITUTION

i. A major advantage of the rigid constitution is that it recognises
that there are some fundamental rights of the citizens or basic
rules relating to the composition and powers of the agencies
of government.
ii. It protects the interest of the minority group
iii.The rigid constitution protects against constant amendment that
do not give room to continuity.
iv.It ensures the political stability in a country because no one
section can amend the constitution of his favour.
v. It prevents dictatorial leaders from amending the constitution to
serve their dictatorial interest.
vi.A rigid constitution is normally a written constitution

DEMERITS OF RIGID CONSTITUTION

i. A rigid constitution is always difficult to amend.
ii. It creates room for revolution of civil war which brings about its
violent change or amendment.
iii.It is not easily adaptable and may break under changing
conditions or emergencies.

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 iv.It will be very expensive, time and energy consuming in
conducting referendum for the changing or amending of a
rigid constitution
v. Its inflexibility makes it difficult to make quick decision in time
of emergency

FEDERAL CONSTITUTION
A federal constitution refers to the one in which constitutional powers
are divided between the central government and its component units
that is the state and local government level, so that each government
is legally and constitutionally independent and autonomous. A
country that adopts this type of constitution is known as a federation
and the system is referred to as a federal system of government.
Examples of countries with federal constitutions are Nigeria, Federal
Republic of Germany, Brazil, India etc.

FEATURES OF A FEDERAL CONSTITUTION

i. It guarantees the supremacy of the constitution.
ii. Powers of the central government and other components units of
governmental powers are separated
iii.A federal constitution is always written

MERITS OF FEDERAL CONSTITUTION

i. The federal constitution brings about political unity, the
federating states are united by a common political sovereign
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 ii. It maintains the independence and autonomy of the components
region or states
iii.It protects the interest of the minority group
iv.A federal constitution makes room for wider representation of
people
v. By dividing the governmental powers that exist in a country
between the central and state government, it prevents
monopoly of power.
vi.It maintains political stability among the ethnic groups.

DEMERITS OF FEDERAL CONSTITUTION

i. A federal constitution is expensive to operate because there are
different levels of government to cater for.
ii. It emphasizes the differences among different ethnic groups in a
country
iii.Quick decisions are usually very difficult to make under a
federal constitution.
iv.A federal constitution creates a good central government
v. It encourages secession or break up of the country
vi.It creates problem in the sharing of wealth of the country among
component region or state of the country

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CONFEDERAL CONSTITUTION
The confederal constitution states the relationship between sovereign
states on a common course of action on certain specified international
circumstances. What therefore binds these sovereign states together is
not much of what can be described as a constitution, but a mere treaty
of alliance. The confederal constitution has no direct effect on
sovereign nation. The citizens of sovereign states can wholly obey the
constitution of their countries. A confederation is a league of
friendship from which member states have the right to withdraw.
Confederation is also defined as a loose federation. Example is
Senegambia which is as a confederation made of sovereign (Senegal
and Gambia).

MERITS OF A CONFEDERAL CONSTITUTION

i. A confederal constitution brings weak and small sovereign
states together to fight as on e formidable nation against any
external attack to any of them. This they argue helps them to
preserve their hard won independence.
ii. Confederation caters for local differences by the constitutional
powers granted the component states to rule themselves the
way they deem fit based on their local areas.
iii.Another argument is that it gives the component states the
opportunity to make diverse laws that will suit their diverse
states.

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 iv.Confederal constitution guarantees wider consultation especially
in the formulation of policies that concerns all states

DEMERITS
i. The flexible nature of the constitution of a federation is a major
reason why it is criticized by many people.
ii. It is not popular because it has a weak central government.
iii.Major functions of the power of government are reserved for the
component states instead of the central government.
iv.Confederation looks like a useless exercise because the
constitution makes the components states more powerful than
the central government.
v. It does not guarantee political unity rather it encourages
disintegration

CONCLUSION
Thomas Hobbes stated that a society without people governing them,
that society will degenerate to a primitive society, therefore a country
without constitution will lead to the state of anarchy (state of
lawlessness). It is at this junction that every state needs to have a
proper constitution in place so as to bring about good governance.

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REFERENCES
i. Basic approach to government - (Segun Aderibigbe pg 34)
ii. Comprehensive government for senior secondary school - (J. U.
Anyaele pg. 52)
iii.Google search
iv. Government and Politics in Nigeria by (Mukaila Sanni. Pg
40)
v. Oxfords Advanced Learners Dictionary of the 7th edition

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