The rule of law places particular emphasis on the protection of individual rights and liberties by and under law. The law guarantees the individual citizen certain rights and liberties and protects them from arbitrary interference or deprivation by government officeholders. The government, in proceeding against an individual, must follow due process of law. The government cannot legally deprive a person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. That is, the government, in taking punitive action against a person, is required to act in strict accordance with legally established procedures. The government officeholders cannot, without violating the law, arbitrarily execute or imprison an individual or confiscate his property, disregarding the established rules of procedure.

Under the rule of law, legal means are available for holding government officers responsible if they violate the Constitution or other laws of the political community. In the U.S.A., for example, the Federal Constitution prescribes the procedures for removing officers of the national government when they violate the law. If the President, the Vice President, a federal judge, or a department head or other civil officer in the executive branch of the national government is suspected of treason, bribery or other serious crime, he is subject to (1) impeachment by majority vote in the U.S. House of Representatives, (2) trial by the U.S. Senate, and (3) removal from office, on conviction by two-thirds vote in the Senate. A member of either chamber of Congress may be expelled from that chamber by two-thirds vote in the chamber. Moreover, all government officeholders, like ordinary citizens, are subject to civil action and criminal prosecution in the courts of law.

7. Constitutional Oligarchy--Constitutionalism without Democracy:

A constitutional government is not necessarily a constitutional democracy. That is to say, a political regime can be constitutional without being democratic.

An important example of a non-democratic constitutional regime in European history is the English/British system of government during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth centuries. From 1689 to 1832, the government of England (Great Britain, after 1707) operated under and in accord with a constitution that included a bill of rights, the English Bill of Rights. The British Constitution limited the authority of the Monarch and defined the relationships among the principal organs of government--Crown, House of Commons, and House of Lords.

The British government also operated in accord with the principle of political representation (or representative government)--the principle that all new laws (and all changes in existing laws) must, in order to go into effect, have the consent of an assembly elected by the voters. Proposed legislation had to be introduced into the chambers of Parliament and could not become law without approval by majority vote in the elective chamber--the House of Commons. Despite its representative character, the political regime was far from being democratic, since only a very small proportion of the adult male population had the legal right to vote in elections to choose members of the House of Commons. The wealthy and propertied minority within British society, especially the large landholders and merchants, controlled the election of the Commons membership.

With the principles of constitutionalism and political representation operating within the context of a limited electoral franchise, the governing authority of the Kingdom was in the hands of a small elite group whose political power was limited by the Constitution. The British system of government from 1689 to 1832 was a constitutional oligarchy, not a constitutional democracy.

With Parliament's passage of the Reform Act of 1832, Britain began the transition from constitutional oligarchy to constitutional democracy. The Reform Acts of 1832, 1867, 1884, 1918, and 1928 extended the right to vote in parliamentary elections, progressively increasing the proportion of the adult population that was included in the electorate. Step by step, Parliament continued to increase the size of the electorate until universal adulthood sufferage had been achieved. Today, virtually all adult British subjects are legally entitled to register as voters and vote in parliamentary elections.

8. Constitutionalism--A Summary:

Constitutionalism is government conducted in accordance with and within the limits set by a written or unwritten constitution--a body of law that is superior to and takes precedence over all ordinary laws, decisions, and actions of government offices, agencies, and institutions. A constitutional government, whether democratic or oligarchical, operates in accord with the provisions of a constitution and does not exceed the authority granted to it by that constitution.

The purpose of constitutionalism is to limit the power of government. A constitution generally limits governmental power by requiring the government to follow prescribed procedures in making and enforcing official decisions and by prohibiting altogether the government's taking certain decisions and actions. Instead of or in addition to the foregoing method of limiting governmental authority, a constitution may accomplish the objective by structuring the government in such manner as to ensure maintenance of a balance of power among the principal organs of government.

Constitutionalism is closely related to the political principle known as the "rule of law." Under the rule of law, the law is supreme over government officeholders, who, like ordinary citizens, are subject to and must abide by the law. Government institutions and officers must, among other things, follow procedures prescribed by law and observe the legally guaranteed rights and liberties of individuals.