ABSTRACT
Both the theory and the practice of constitutionalism were predemocratic phenomena in the European political tradition. Constitutionalism can refer both to the analysis of constitutions and constitutional government and to normative theories that advocate constitutionally limited government. The constitutionally defined framework of a state may be distinguished from the broader and less precise ideas of the political system or process. A constitution in the enabling sense is inseparable from democracy in practice and must be put in place prior to the functioning of a democratic system. The project of limiting power is the most salient analytic and normative feature of constitutionalism in liberal-democratic political cultures and in liberal political theory, although this project has been most successful where effective state authority was already established and accepted. Most forms of separated powers can produce examples of checks and balances, the other most familiar constitutional concept.
