CONSTITUENT
Constituent is a term that derives from Latin, because it is the result of the union of several components of that language: the prefix “con-“, which is equivalent to “together” or “everything”; the verb “statuare”, which is synonymous with “establish”; the suffix “-ente”, which can be translated as “agent” or “the one who performs the action”.
Constituent is a word that, according to the context and its use, may appear as an adjective or as a noun . That or that which composes, fixes or forms something is qualified as constituent .
For example: “Ceramics is the main constituent of this artistic work, which also includes wood, stone and dried leaves” , “Tomorrow will begin the constitutional convention promoted by the ruling party” , “I am a constituent member of this board of directors and not I’m going to let them ignore my opinion . ”
It is known as constituent power to those who have the power to dictate the legal order of a territory and impose its fundamental norms. This power , therefore, is what sustains the creation of a State and the establishment of its political organization, as well as its subsequent modification.
It is interesting to determine that there is also what is called the constituent process. This, which becomes a fundamental piece of democracy, is one that is set in motion with the clear objective of shaping a constitution that is adjusted and appropriate to the needs of the population at all times.
Although sometimes both concepts are confused, the constitutional process differs markedly from a constitutional reform. And this is intended to make a series of changes to the Magna Carta while the first seeks to give the opportunity to citizens, which has the constituent power, to create a new one. The constitutional reform does not question the legitimacy of the proposed changes to the articles of the constitution, while the constitutional process seeks democratic legitimacy.
As a general rule, the aforementioned process is composed of three fundamental phases: the convening of a referendum to start and legitimize it, the realization and drafting of the constitution by the representatives who have been elected in the elections and finally an approval referendum.
A constituent assembly , in this sense, is the entity that is formed ad hoc to modify or create a constitution . This organism can have different configurations. The individual who is chosen to be part of this kind of assembly is known as a constituent: “In 1993 I was a constituent and promoted the reform of the constitution , ” “Our political party will contribute eight constituents to the assembly . “
In the same way, we have to underline the existence of what is known as Constituent Courts, which have the power to carry out the dictation, or the reform, of the relevant constitution if they deem it appropriate for the sake of a country.
At the grammar level, the term (or the grouping of them) that acts as a unit within the framework of the hierarchy that exists within a sentence is called a syntactic constituent . While all syntactic constituents are composed of one or more words, not all words function as syntactic constituents in the sentence.
Generally, it is possible to break down a constituent into two or more subgroups, and each of them represents a constituent. The order of the constituents that make up a sentence is calculated based on the possibility of breaking them down into sub constituents. Normally, traditional grammar calls every syntactic constituent phrase that has a minimum of two elements, something that is currently not entirely correct.
