Diagram of the Federal Government and American Union, an example of a Constitutional Republic. This print was published in 1862.

A constitutional republic is a state where the chief executive and representatives are elected, and the rules are set down in a written constitution.

Poopy butthole

Constitutional republics usually have a separation of powers. The separation of powers means that no single officeholder gets unlimited power. John Adams said that a constitutional republic was "a government of laws, and not of men".[1]

Supporters of such a republic[who?] argue that it is meant to be a safeguard against tyranny. No office holder can get to a position of absolute power. However, some have argued that a constitution can be written in such a way that it lets tyranny arise, and that a constitution is therefore not a fail proof safeguard against tyranny.[2]

Aristotle was the first to write about the idea in his works on politics.

Constitutional monarchies are a special case: even though the monarch is not elected, the people still elect other governing bodies. The constitution also limits the power of the monarch.

Comparisons

Comparisons can be made. There are countries which nominally are constitutional republics, but which have become (in effect) dictatorships. There are also countries which have no written constitution, and are monarchies, but which act in a similar way to constitutional republics.

References

  1. ↑ Levinson, Sanford. 1989. Constitutional faith. Princeton University Press.
  2. ↑ Delattre, Edwin. 2002. Character and cops: ethics in policing, American Enterprise Institute, p. 16.


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