LEADER 02303nam 2200337z- 450 001 9910583578303321 005 20220715 010 $a1-4214-2794-X 035 $a(CKB)5460000000023657 035 $a(oapen)https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/88745 035 $a(oapen)doab88745 035 $a(EXLCZ)995460000000023657 100 $a20202207d2009 |y 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurmn|---annan 181 $ctxt$2rdacontent 182 $cc$2rdamedia 183 $acr$2rdacarrier 200 00$aFrom Words to Worlds$eExploring Constitutional Functionality 210 $cJohns Hopkins University Press$d2009 215 $a1 online resource (232 p.) 330 $aIn the 225 years since the United States Constitution was first drafted, no single book has addressed the key questions of what constitutions are designed to do, how they are structured, and why they matter. In From Words to Worlds, constitutional scholar Beau Breslin corrects this glaring oversight, singling out the essential functions that a modern, written constitution must incorporate in order to serve as a nation's fundamental law.Breslin lays out and explains the basic functions of a modern constitution-including creating a new citizenry, structuring the institutions of government, regulating conflict between layers and branches of government, and limiting the power of the sovereign. He also discusses the theoretical concepts behind the fundamentals of written constitutions and examines in depth some of the most important constitutional charters from around the world. In assaying how states put structural ideas into practice, Breslin asks probing questions about why-and if-constitutions matter.Solidly argued and engagingly written, this comparative study in constitutional thought demonstrates clearly the key components that a state's foundational document must address. Breslin draws a critically important distinction between constitutional texts and constitutional practice. 517 $aFrom Words to Worlds 606 $aComparative politics$2bicssc 610 $aComparative politics 615 7$aComparative politics 700 $aBreslin$b Beau$4auth$01320388 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910583578303321 996 $aFrom Words to Worlds$93034224 997 $aUNINA