PILLARS OF DEMOCRACY

 Democracy on its own will not survive without the help of some institutions. It can only thrive where there is regular and transparent elections, political parties and tolerance, doctrine of rule of law, freedom of expression, among others.  Democracy been government by the consent of the governed, is people oriented and all actions and policies of government reflects the yearnings of the people.  These institutions that are the backbone of democracy are called pillars of democracy. They include:
The Constitution

One of the basics Pillars of democracy is a workable  Constitution.  Constitution is a set of fundamental rules according to which a state is governed.  It is also a set of rules or regulations which guides the conduct and  behaviors of people in a society. It lays down guidelines for political interactions among the levels of government and citizens of a state, and it is necessary for an orderly conduct of the affairs of the state. A Constitution is therefore a product of the people's wishes and aspiration contained in an authoritative document.

The Constitution states the fundamental rules and principles which determine the structure, powers and functions to be exercised by various organs of government.  The Constitution acts as a check on exercise of state power by establishing lines which leaders cannot cross. It seeks to regulate the relationship between institutions of State, such as the executives, legislature and judiciary.  It also defines the relations between individual and the state and establish the rights and obligations/duties of citizens.
Basically, there are two forms of a Constitution namely; written and written constitution.  Written constitution is a properly documented legal instrument. It is a fundamental document containing the basic laws   that govern the people. Written constitution contains laws that are codified (written down) in a single document. It is the practice of modern nations to codify their Constitution.  Example of countries with written constructions are Nigeria USA I Ghana.

Unwritten Constitution on the other hand refers to rules and regulations governing a country that are not contain in a single document.  There is no single official document, but the rules or practices are contained in different documents.  Great Britain is a good example of a country that Operate an unwritten constitution.

The major sources of a Constitution are; conventions, customs, judicial proceedings, acts of parliament, writings of eminent political philosophers etc.

Features of the Constitution

1.     Division of powers:  a constitution confers specific powers on various organs and institutions of government.  For instance, the constitution stated that the primary functions of the legislature is to make or repeal laws, the executive to implement laws and judiciary to interpret laws.  Any actions of any organ or official beyond the limits of its power or authority will be declared ultravires (null and void).

2.     Supremacy over ordinary statue law:  in most modern states, the constitution has supremacy over ordinary statue law. A statue law is a written law passed a legislative body. Any provisions of the statute law in conflict with the constitution will be declared null and void and therefore of no effect, as the provision of the constitution prevail over the statute law.

3.     Codification:  A fundamental feature of a constitution is either it is codified or not. A codified constitution is one that is contained in a single document, consisting of several different sources which may be written on unwritten.
4.  Entrenchment: The presence or lack of entrenchment is a fundamental feature of a Constitution.  An entrenched Constitution is one that is firmly established that it cannot be altered in any way by the legislature as a part of its normal business concerning statutory laws.  That is to say, it requires special procedures for its amendments.  The Nigerian and U.S.A. constitution is an example an entrenched constitution, and the U.K. constitution is one that is not entrenched.  That means, it's require no special procedures for its amendments.

5.     Distribution of sovereignty:   the constitution established where sovereignty is located in a state.  Sovereignty means supreme power or authority.  There are three basic types of distribution of powers according to the degree of centralization of powers. Unitary, Federal and Confederal.  In a Unitary State, sovereignty resides in the state itself. The state may be divided into regions, but they are not sovereign, but are subordinate to the State.  In a federal state, there exist central structures containing institutions of the federal government and several regions or states.  Sovereignty is divided between the central and the constituent regions or states.  A Confederal State comprises several regions or states, but the central structure has only limited coordinating powers, while sovereignty is located in the region or States.

6.     State of emergency:  Many Constitutions allow the declaration of a state of emergency in exceptional circumstances such as natural crisis or war.  In such times, some rights of people are suspended for national interest.

Assignment

Explain the necessary components of a constitution

The Institutions of Government

The business of government cannot be carried out without the existence of institutions. Such institutions ensure political stability and peaceful co-existence as well as welfare of citizens. These institutions include;

The Arms of Government

There are three arms of government, they are; the legislature, executive and judiciary. The legislature is responsible for law making and oversight functions. The executive is responsible for implementing laws and policies of government, while the judiciary is mainly responsible for the interpretation of laws and the constitution.

The Legislature

This is the arm of government that is charged with the responsibility of making or repealing laws of the land. In Nigeria, the legislature is called the National Assembly at the central level, and House of Assembly at the state level. The legislature performs some of these functions

1.     Law making: this is the primary function of the legislature. This is done through the constitutional and parliamentary procedures employed by the National or State Assembly, which involves several readings, public hearings, legislative committees etc. in the passage of bills to law.

2.     Oversight function: this is the constitutional power of the legislature to check or control the exercise of constitutional powers of other arms of government in order to make them accountable to the electorate.

3.     Watchdog over Public Finance: it is the legislature that gives authorization to the executives for all expenditure from the Consolidated Revenue Fund. The Appropriation Bill is the basis of the executive’s plan for running of government within the fiscal year.

4.     Removal powers: the legislature have the ultimate powers to remove the president, vice president, governor or deputy governor through impeachment. The provision for the removal of members of the chief executives from office is found in section 143 and 188 of the 1999 constitution.

The executive

The executive is the arm of government whose main function is to implement the law. At the federal level, the executive is headed by the president, who is the Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, supported by the vice president and ministers, while the Governor heads the executive at the state level.

The executive formulate and execute government policies and programmes. The executive must operate within the limit of the constitutional provisions and other laws of the land. Any violation of the constitution or law is subject to judicial review by the judges, and any arbitrary action or policy of government may be declared null and void, and therefore, of no effect by the courts.

The Judiciary

The judiciary’s primary responsibility is to interpret the law. The Nigeria’s legal system is based on the combination of common law, statutory (legislative) law, customary law and sharia law. At the federal level, the judicial arm consist of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court. At the state level, there is the State High Court, and at the local government level, there are the Sharia Court and Customary Court.

Armed Forces/ Paramilitary Organizations

The military is a strong institution for the defence of the state. It comprises the armed forces such as the Army, Navy and Airforce. The Armed forces are to defend the state against external aggression and assist in suppressing internal insurgency. The police and other paramilitary organizations such as Civil Defence, Man O’ War, Vigilante Groups etc. The police has the responsibility to maintain internal security.

Trade/Labour Unions

Trade unions seek to protect the interest of their members. They often agitate for better welfare packages such as increase in salary, loans for vehicles and housing and other social benefits. Trade unions have been very powerful in institutionalizing good governance and preservation of human rights. In Nigeria, the labour unions have protested in many occasions against human right abuses by the political class and powerful individuals. Example of labour unions are; Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) etc.