What is a constitution, and what are the sources of the British constitution?

... G.Milbourn 18/09/04 What is a constitution, and what are the sources of the British constitution? A constitution is a set of rules, usually written down, setting out how a country is governed. The essential idea of a constitution is rule-based behaviour by the government; government is conducted according to clear rules and not in an arbitrary manner. Most states have a constitution set out largely in one document, such as the USA; this is known as a codified constitution. Britain is the only western democracy that does not have a codified constitution in this sense, as it has been put together over time. Because the constitution is not codified nor entrenched it relies heavily on two principles: * The principle of parliamentary sovereignty, and the Rule of Law The advantages of the constitution: Flexibility The UK constitution does not need a complicated procedure to change it as in the USA for example, and can change according to circumstances. By

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