Constitutional Law Quiz

Constitutional Law: Key Principles and Structure

• Constitutional law defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, including the executive, parliament, and judiciary, as well as the basic rights of citizens.
• Constitutions may include customary law, conventions, statutory law, judge-made law, or international rules and norms.
• Constitutional law can grant specific powers to the government, such as the power to tax and spend for the welfare of the population, and place limits on what the government can do, such as prohibiting the arrest of an individual without sufficient cause.
• The structure of constitutions can indicate hierarchies and relationships of power, and in federal states, identify the several levels of government coexisting with exclusive or shared areas of jurisdiction over lawmaking, application, and enforcement.
• Human rights or civil liberties form a crucial part of a country's constitution and uphold the rights of the individual against the state.
• The procedure by which parliaments may legislate may be described in constitutions, including special majorities required to alter the constitution, and requirements for maximum terms that a government can keep power before holding an election.
• Constitutional law is a major focus of legal studies and research, with most law students in the United States required to take a class in Constitutional Law during their first year.
• The doctrine of the rule of law dictates that government must be conducted according to law.
• The rule of law consists of three classic tenets: the regular law is supreme over arbitrary and discretionary powers; all men are to stand equal in the eyes of the law; and the constitution supports general ideas and principles that arise directly from the judgements and precedents issued by the judiciary.
• Separation of powers is often regarded as a second limb functioning alongside the rule of law to curb the powers of the government.
• Election law is a subfield of constitutional law that includes the rules governing the process of elections, such as voter registration, ballot access, campaign finance and party funding, redistricting, and electoral fraud.
• Constitutional law is different in common law nations, such as those in the Commonwealth, and civil law jurisdictions, with common law judiciaries being adversarial and civil law judiciaries being inquisitorial.