What makes a constitution effective

What is a constitution? In most countries it is a compact document of articles about how the state is constituted and what norms it follows. Some countries, such as the United Kingdom, have no single document; a series of documents and decisions together form the constitution.

Many constitutions exist only on paper. What makes one effective, with real impact on people's lives? Three factors:

1. Mode of promulgation: how it came into being, who made it, and how much authority they had.

• Many constitutions stay defunct because they were crafted by military leaders or unpopular leaders who could not carry the people with them.
• The most successful, like those of India, South Africa and the United States, were made after popular national movements. India's Constituent Assembly worked from December 1946 to November 1949, but drew on the long nationalist movement, which brought different sections of society together. Its makers had immense public credibility, could negotiate and command respect, and convinced people it was not an instrument of personal power.
• India's Constitution was never put to a referendum, but people adopted it as their own by abiding by it.

2. Substantive provisions: a successful constitution gives everyone in society some reason to go along with it.

• A constitution that let permanent majorities oppress minorities, privileged some at others' expense, or entrenched the power of small groups would lose allegiance. No constitution achieves perfect justice, but it must convince people it is a framework for pursuing basic justice. The more it preserves the freedom and equality of all, the more likely it is to succeed.

3. Balanced institutional design.

• Constitutions are often subverted by small groups seeking power. Well-crafted constitutions fragment power so that no single institution has a monopoly. India's divides power horizontally among the legislature, executive and judiciary, and independent bodies like the Election Commission, so each can check the others: a system of checks and balances.
• A constitution must also balance rigidity and flexibility: too rigid and it breaks under change; too flexible and it gives no security or identity. India's Constitution is called a 'living' document because it balances the possibility of change with limits on change.

Three questions to test a constitution's authority: Were its makers credible? Is power intelligently organised so no group can easily subvert it? Does it give everyone a reason to go along, and is it the focus of people's hopes and aspirations?

• Example (new): a school council constitution drafted by the headteacher alone and pinned up without discussion may be ignored; one drafted by elected student and teacher representatives after open debate is far more likely to be respected.