Certain Considerations on the Elements of the State

Constitution

Going by the near-universal existence of a constitution for each country as a defining formal document of the rights and duties of the people, the power and limitations of government and as the source of all coercive power that the modern State exercises or threatens to exercise, we would like to argue that a constitution should qualify as one of the essential elements of the modern State. Hitherto, it has not been considered as an essential element—only population, territory, government and sovereignty are considered essential elements of the State. We would like to argue that in a modern State, the people, the government and sovereignty may not have any political relevance, till these are reflected in a publicly declared constitution.