miker@sri-unix (07/02/82)
Of the students surveyed, 68% wrongly identified the first statement
as an excerpt form the United States Constitution, and 86% agreed
with it. It is actually from the 4th Article of the Soviet Constitution.
The Soviet Union has quite a good constitution, which most
Americans could accept with little or no reservation.
So do a number of other totalitarian and authoritarian
governments (to use the new Reagan classifications).
Until a few weeks ago Canada didn't really have a constitution
at all, and I don't think that Britain has one.
British-type parliamentary governments tend to rely more on
generally accepted customs which are enforced when necessary
by the Queen or her representatives (governors-general).
For example, a few years ago the Australian government refused
to call an election after being unable to pass the budget,
as custom dictates. The Governor-General then dissolved
Parliament as the representative of the monarchy. (I
believe that Australia does have a constitution, though).
It just goes to show that a constitution is just a piece of
paper with nice words written on it without a number of other
factors being present in the society, and if these factors are
present you can use some other technique to implement the same
function.