Constitutionalism

The concept of constitutionalism is that of a polity governed by or
under a constitution that ordains essentially limited government and
rule of law as opposed to arbitrary, authoritarian or totalitarian
rule. Constitutional government, therefore, should necessarily be
democratic government. Also, constitutionalism is a natural
concomitant of a written constitution inasmuch as a written
constitution is bound to define and delimit the powers and functions
of various organs of the state and a government under a written
constitution can only be limited government. But, it is certainly
conceivable that some countries- there have been many examples-may
have written constitutions which are not really democratic. It can be
said that they have constitutions but not constitutionalism. Also,
there are instances where there is no written constitution but
constitutionalism prevails.