Normative and Nominal constitutions

Some constitutions are buttressed by powerful institutions such as an independent judiciary,whereas others, though committed to lofty principles,are not supported by governmental institutions endowed with the authority to defend these principles in concrete situations.Accordingly,many juristic writers distinguish between ’normative’ and ’nominal’ constitutions

A normative constitution is one that not only has the status of supreme law but is also fully activated and effective;it is habitually obeyed in the actual life of the state.A nominal constitution may express high aspirations, but it does not,in fact, reflect the political realities of the state.

Article 125 of the 1936 constitution of the former Soviet Union and article 87 of the 1954 constitution of the People’s Republic of China both purport to guarantee freedom of speech,but in those countries even mild expressions of dissent are likely to be swiftly and sternly repressed.

Where the written constitution is only mominal,behind the verbal facade will be found the real constitution containing the basic principles according to which power is exercised in actual fact.

Thus in the former Soviet Union the rules of the Communist Party describing its organs and functioning are more truly the constitution of that country than are the grand phrases of the 1936 Stalin constitution. Every state,in short,has a constitution, but in some a real constitution operates behing the facade of a nominal constitution.