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Comparative Politics and Government

Notes It depends upon the sagacity and wisdom of the men in power that by extending the area of their
discretionary authority they may save the country from the challenge of social and economic
disintegration, or they may push it to the most disastrous consequences. Wheare rightly suggests
that conditions of national emergency or socio-economic distress “lead to the suspension of the
ordinary limitations upon government in order to permit swift and effective action. Crisis or
emergency government can seldom be constitutional government: peace and prosperity are in
truth strong allies of constitutional government. Their prospects are its prospects.”
Latest Perspective
A pertinent question arises as to how these serious problems should be dealt with. Or, what
should be the outlook for constitutionalism in the present age of globalisation, liberalisation and
demoeratisation.
The attribute of nationalism occupies the first place in view of the fact that the modern constitutional
state is necessarily a nationalist organisation. The constitutionalism should recognise the principle
of national self determination. We may quote several instances to show that the edifice of a
constitutional state was shattered by the forces of nationalism that raised their heads and ultimately
caused the disintegration of the constitutional state. The emergence of the republic of Bangladesh
may be cited as an intance of the same fact. The Soviet constitution had given the right to every
nationality to secede from the Union that had made the federation analogous to a confederation.
It may be feared that certain minorities may take undue advantage of claiming autonomy as we
find in the case of the French community in the province of Quebec in Canada or of rebel Nagas
and Mizos in the north eastern region of India. Such movements may create serious problems for
the government. However, the solution to all such difficulties and problems lies in the successful
realisation of the ideal of national integration.
The new trend must be taken note of that the concept of nation-state with the attribute of sovereignty
has been steadily in the process of erosion for the last many years. Nationalism is being
imperceptibly supreseded by trans-nationalism the example of which may be seen in the successful
working of the European Union. The member-states of this trans-national organisation have made
necessary adjustments so as to harmonise their political institutions with the constitutional set up
of the European Union. The British Parliament is no longer a sovereign body as taken by A.V.
Dicey in 1885. A member-state of such a trans-national organisation is no longer the exclusive
locus of power within its own territorial boundaries. Its powers are limited, and so the powers of
the Union are limited in relation to the individual member-states. It is specifically given in the
Maastricht Treaty of 1992 that every person holding the nationality of a member-state shall be a
citizen of the European Union. The case of the Association of South-East Asian Nations may also
be counted in this regard. The operation of such supra-regional organisations is certainly adding
a new dimension to the case of constitutionalism.
Though constitutionalism does not strictly stand for a representative and responsible government
as conceived by the liberals, it nevertheless attaches prime significance to a rule that is opposed to
a totalitarian government. “If constitutional government is limited government, it follows that one
of its enemies is absolutism of any kind. Any body of opinion and any organised movement which
aims at establishing omnipotent government is clearly a force opposed to constitutional
government.” The provisions of the constitution must, for this reason, pertain to a democratic
model, though the degree of demoeratisation may vary from one country to another as per obtaining
social, economic and political conditions.
It should also be kept in view that the idea of constitutionalism that had an aristocratic nature at
the outset has now come to assume a democratic character. Achievements made during the days
of the Jacksonian presidency in the United States, the democratisation of franchise in England and
civil war in France all covering the middle portion of the nineteenth century—have brought about
a basic change in the concept of constitutionalism. The result is that if nationalism is one essential
attribute of constitutionalism, democracy is another. The fears of totalitarianism should be dispelled
by the provisions of more and more democracy. The constitution must provide room for essential
freedoms of the people, safeguards for the rights of the minorities, protection of the legitimate

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